Gleaming Giants
by Protector of Toaster
Summary: Forces from Forge World Metalica find a planet that is orbited by a fractured moon. Rated M just to be safe. This is my first story so except nothing much. This story is not dead yet, for the machine is immortal!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: First Contact

Ironwood received a message from an unknown source a month before initiation started. He sat quietly in his office and whispered the message to himself again, "Greetings feudals, I am Dominus Malleus Rubrum of Forge World Metalica. There will be a landing party that I will be a part of with a patrol of skitarii, it will make landfall within the next 24 hours. We seek to integrate your weak world into the holy light of the Omnissiah." This Malles Rubrum and his 'Forge World Metalica' seek to remove the sovereignty of Atlas. The General quickly called Jacques Schnee with his scroll. "What is the matter General Ironwood?" questioned the owner of the SDC Company.

Ironwood explained the situation, "I was sent a message 9 hours ago stating that a person from another world call 'Metalica' is going to land on Remnant in around 15 hours. They plan to, and I quote, 'We seek to integrate your weak world into the holy light of the Omnissiah.' He seeks to harm the kingdom of Atlas. I am call to make sure you have my support to arrest them when they land, when I bring this dilemma to the council of Atlas." Jacques twiddled his thumbs as he thought. "How do you know this is not a prank?" questioned Mr. Schnee.

 **13 Hours later**

A white Valkyrie with dark red highlights descended into the planet's atmosphere. Malleus Rubrum was early due to him ignoring to pack all of the toasters he loved and cared for like a mother to its child. He would have shed a tear if his eyes were still flesh, how weak of him. Pilot skitarii yelled towards the other crew members, -We are being fired upon with primitive missiles! What are your orders Dominus!- Malleus slowly walked towards the cockpit as the pilot started evasive actions. -Evade the missile, but act like it damaged us. Land near those ruins a click to the north from the city that fired upon us. We will blend into the snow!- ordered the Dominus

Rubrum turned toward his patrol detachment, only three squads of ten Ranger Skitarii, and bellowed thru his vox, -START THE INCANTATION OF THE IRON SOUL! I WANT THESE PRIMITIVE TO HEAR YOU FROM HERE! GLORY TO THE OMNISSIAH!- The skitarii started blasting the canticles at the max volume their voxs could withstand. The Dominus sent out a distress ping, to any Mechanicus forces within range, as the missile detonated behind the blessed ship. The pilot followed orders and started descending into a controlled crash.

General Ironwood peered thru his binoculars as the white airship started descending rapidly. "Good hit," he muttered to himself. A bullhead landed next to him with a squad of heavily armed soldiers. The sergeant yelled, "All we are waiting for is you General." Ironwood waved his hand dismissively, "Go on without me. I am no longer one for these heroics." The bullhead started up as it flew to the crash site. The General could swear he hear static coming from far in the distance.

Malleus watched from a distance as the Valkyrie was exploded with a quickly made melta bomb. They have stopped the incantation of the iron soul and fortified in an underground position in the ruins of a small village. A few skitarii died in the controlled crash, four in total, they forgot to fasten their harnesses. And another skitarii was left at the crash to detonate the melta bomb. Leaving him with 25 skitarii total, enough for two and a half squads. -Seal the exits and entrances. Quietly,- ordered the Dominus. The skitarii obeyed his commands and created their shelter their tomb, with only their lenses lighting up the room.

The squad of Atlesian soldiers reach the crash site of the unknown airship. Inside the crash they say five figures in white cloaks with dark red edges, they were armored and heavy armed. "You foolish primitives…" wheezed out one of the passengers as he crawled thru the wreckage. He continued, "You have declared war against the Adeptus Mechanicus for this action of violence, and for that you will pay…" The cloaked figure was finished his crawling as turned to face the squad of soldiers. He recited a manta quietly, luring a few of the soldiers to step closer, "There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal. There is no strength in flesh, only weakness. There is no constancy in flesh, only decay. There is no certainty in flesh but death."

General Ironwood watched the crash from a distance as best he could, there were numerous trees in the way but he could see the faint smoke plume. His scroll crackled to life as the squad leader stated, "Steel Tree, this is Alpha Squad Lead." He replied, "This is Steel Tree, send traffic." "Five times men, wearing with white robes covering plates of armor, found at the crash. Only one in conscious at the moment and his is heavily armed, but does not appear hostile. He is muttering something about us being primitives that we have declared war on a group called the Adeptus Mechanicus, and some mantra about flesh being weak. Break," reported the squad leader.

There was a pause is the transmission, Ironwood held his breath. A metallic yell could be heard thru the scroll, "YOU WILL ALL BE TRAMPLED BY OUR RELENTLESS MARCH! GLORY TO THE OMNISSIAH!" Everyone that was sleeping in Atlas was awoken by a ear pounding explosion from the north. The fading smoke plume was replaced with a new one from the same source, the crashed airship. The General quickly yelled into his scroll, "Alpha Squad do you copy?!" He was greeted with only static. He repeated his message, to receive the same answer. Whoever was this Adeptus Mechanicus group was going to pay.

Pugnus Rubrum stood at the bridge of his flag ship as he stared off into the endless encroachment of space. A yell broke his concentration, -Magos Dominus! We have received a distress beacon from the far fringes of Ultima Segmentum! It bears the codes of Dominus Malleus Rubrum, your biological brother.- Pugnus turned to face the skitarii giving the report. The Magos Dominus casually replied -You know I care not for my biological relationships, for the flesh is weak. What does the beacon report?- The skitarii took 6 seconds to process the information into a shorter

-Malleus Rubrum found a lost human colony, he was with the landing party when the locals shot the Valkyrie out of the sky. He is alive with 25 skitarii rangers in a bunker near a primitive hive city called Atlas, home to the humans that attacked him. He request support to conquer the world in the name of the Omnissiah,- paraphrased the skitarii. The Magos Dominus looked around the room before asking, -Well? What are you all waiting for?! The feudals believe that they can best the Adeptus Mechanicus! PROVE THEM WRONG!-

 **Note: I don't own RWBY or Warhammer 40k, otherwise I would have nerfed Mars and Ultramarines in the table top. I am more versed with the grim dark future than Remnant, any and all reviews are appreciated. I will edit if I make a mistake in the lore or names for Warhammer equipment, mostly referring to the Valkyrie here cause admech got no transports or flyers. Remember, Metalica with one 'L' is the forge world. Metallica with two 'L' is the band. Pugnus Rubrum leads a Brigade Detachment and a Super Heavy Detachment, I need names for the units instead of a series of numbers. Every single unit in the Admech Codex available for a Metalica Army is used, basically all except Belisarius Cawl.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Translation:**

 **Malleus Rubrum: Hammer Red (inspired from Metalica's icon)**

 **Pugnus Rubrum: Fist Red (inspired from Metalica's icon)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Cultists

 **4 months after first contact**

Doctor Polendina had just finished with his last project, a synthetic entity that can generate aura, a few weeks ago. This breakthrough was important to General Ironwood for multiple reasons. One, Atlas can give aura to their robots to make them more durable. And the more important reason, it frees up Doctor Polendina's schedule to begin full research of the scraps from the crash landing four months ago. Ironwood's scroll rang as he cast a glance to see would was attempting to call him, how ironic it is the Doctor he is thinking about. How ironic.

"What is the matter Doctor?" he coldly asked. The doctor interlaced his fingers as he explained, "It is with the…material…provided from the crash. The airship could have held more than the five people found there, and the damage the ship has taking was mostly from the inside. It is probably that there are more of them that survived the crash and fled. This would make an excellent test of Penny's capabilities, as for the technology that I could salvage from the wreck. Nothing of importance could be found because the inside of the airship was melted in the second explosion, but the engines on the wings show that they do not use dust." General Ironwood leaded back into his chair and took in a deep breath.

"Hypothetically speaking. If there were survivors from the crash that fled before my men could reach there, what is the chance that they have undamaged pieced of their technology?" asked the headmaster. The doctor wrote a few numbers on a piece of scrap paper on his desk. He answered, "Since our missile barely scratched the airship, it is likely that the survivors' equipment is undamaged. Whether or not the survivors are alive depends on if they encountered Grimm. If the survivors are dead then the quality of the equipment might have degraded over time." General Ironwood quickly ended the call with the old doctor and made another call. "Mr. Schwarz, I have a new mission for your squad and Penny."

Penny Polendina was curious to say the least, she and her team were assigned a mission with a squad of Atlesian soldiers. First missions were scheduled in fifteen weeks from now, there must be an important reason. During the debrief, she was given the answer. A new cult, called the Adeptus Mechanicus, has made their motives know to Atlas. They seek to overthrow the government. Four months ago one of their airships was shot down, and it is expected that survivors of the crash has escaped the authorities and ran off into the wilderness. The cultist themselves are known to wear white robes and to see that the flesh is weak.

That is why she is on this mission, she is a robot without flesh. General Ironwood wanted to see the reactions of the cultist to a robot that appears humanoid. The bullhead ride to the crash site was quiet, on her left and right were Atlesian soldiers. None of them wanted to hold a conversation, instead they checked their gear and weapons a total of eight times. A majority of the soldiers that she has meet share these habits, how peculiar. The bullhead descended into an abandoned village and opened the doors. The squad leader, if my memory is correct his name is Hans Schwarz, informed the squad, "This village is near where the cultist have crashed, scour the city for any signs of anyone living here! And remember, keep Penny alive and safe."

"Don't worry Mr. Schwarz. I am combat ready!" stated the robot as she gave a mock salute. Hans could not help but to chuckled as he returned the gesture. The squad hoped out of the bullhead and quickly set up three sixty security, repetition does pay off some times. Dane, the AT specialist, remarked, "I got a feeling that tells me that these 'cultists' are remnants from the fascist after the great war." "50 lien says that they are an offshoot of the White Fang!" yelled Alex, the medic. Coy, the marksmen, berated them, "This is no place to gamble, we have a mission to complete!"

The eight man squad created a diamond formation as they walked down the empty streets, with the VIP in the center of the formation. Penny was not happy that she was surrounded by soldiers, but they have reasons to be worried. This was her first time in the field and something has bound to happen. Penny stopped walking when a line of code entered her processors. She could not decipher all of the words while the message repeated over and over again. All she could understand was Atlas, and Adeptus Mechanicus. Hans signaled for the squad to stop as he asked, "Are you okay Penny?" The robot shook her head to stop of train of thought. "I have received a message from an unknown source from inside this city. The message is in a language I do not understand, except for two phrases. Atlas and Adeptus Mechanicus."

Hans looked to his squad before ordering, "Can you track were the message is coming from?" The robot nodded, as he continued, "Then show us where they are hiding." Penny started running down the streets taking turns at random, the squad started sprinting to catch up with her. Dane complained about having to carry all of the AT rockets and his bad endurance as he started to fall behind the others. This was commonplace in all of the operations the squad had. Suddenly Penny stopped running, almost causing Hans to slam into her, and looked around. "They should be here," commented the VIP. Dane soon joined the group and collapsed on the floor wheezing. "Are you sure you don't have asthma?" prodded Alex.

Hans look at the state of his squad, they were all catching their breaths, before giving an order, "I want you to clear out the buildings around here! Leave no pebble unturned!" A multitude of versions of yes greeted the squad leader's ear. As they slow walked to the surrounding buildings, Penny tapped his shoulder as she asked "Should I go help them clear out the buildings?" Hans shook his head, "No, they might have armed the buildings with explosives or mines. Until they find anything, try to decipher the message."

After a near ten minute search a voice called out from the buildings, "Hey Schwarz, I found a bunker, but the entrance is caved in." The squad leader yelled to the unknown voice, "Can you remove the rubble or do you need explosives?" "Did someone say…explosives?" commented one of the soldiers as he held up a satchel charge. Ian stepped out of the building and berated the demolition expert, "John, an explosion created by that would cause the bunker to cave in. We want to find what is down there, not bury it. And by the way, we can use our entrenchment tools to move the rubble." John sighed as he took out his shovel and jogged over to the bunker entrance.

After a painstaking hour the bunker entrance was cleared of the rubble. "Wait!" yelled the robot as John started to enter the bunker. John turned around and gave her a 'what you want' look as he gestured for them to enter the bunker. Penny explained to the squad, "The message I received has stopped transmitting." Hans checked that his mag was full as he paraphrased, "So, you are saying we are going in blind of where the signal is coming from? Which is probably because they know that we are here?" The VIP nodded her head, causing Ian to groan. Hans glanced to his squad as he fought about what to do, he had only eight men in total and some were more important than others.

"Alex, Ian, John, Dane, and Penny. You five will stay above ground and plant charges at the entrance of the bunker. Zander, Julius, and Frank. Your three are with me and heading down into the bunker. John, want you to bury the enemy in the bunker if we do not come back in ten mikes. Do not allow any of them to escape," ordered Hans. A myriad of confirmation touched the squad leader's ear. The four soldiers activated their flashlight attachments and entered into the darkness of the bunker. John could not help but to giggle as he planted the charges around the only entrance and exit. Penny questioned, "Is John the right person to trust the detonator with. He does not appear mentally stable." The group glanced toward John who was currently trying to woo the satchel charges with his singing ability. "Your flat!" yelled Dane from the sidelines. John nodded and corrected his pitch.

Ian carefully explained out of John's earshot, "John is surprisingly stable in the upstairs, all of what he is doing is an act. The only reason that I found out why he does that is because he finds it funny and hopes to lighten the mood of the squad. If we get into a combat situation you will find that his personality can change on a dime. He is the only reason that some of us are here in one piece." Penny slowly nodded her head in understanding as she took a moment to see what the explosive specialist was doing. He was currently attempting to dance with a partner that was not there, constantly stating who she is stepping on his feet. Hallucinations could be cause by drugs, shell shock, or mental insanity. All options are not traits the person in charge of explosives should have.

Dane and Alex were chuckling at their friend's antics, until multiple sounds reverberated out of the bunker. Shots from Atlesian firearms and the unmistakable sound of screams. Inhuman screeches pulled John out of his pretend game as he and his squad mates leveled their rifles to the entrance. Ian quietly whispered to Penny, "Call Hans' scroll with yours, and make it fast." The robot hastily followed the order and called the squad leader's scroll. The squad held their breath as they could hear the ringing sound over and over again. The scroll let out the unwanted response, "Hans Schwarz here, it seems that I can't answer my scroll right now. I will respond to you call after my schedule has been freed." Alex cursed under his breath as the monotone beep confirmed everyone's fear.

The four Atlesian soldiers maintained eye contact for longer than they have should. Without a word the soldiers started running away from the bunker, with Penny taking a moment to figure out what they were planning. Ian and Alex quickly and effortless vaulted over the ruins of a wall and ducked behind it. Dane on the other hand tripped during his vault and fell face first into some rubble, causing a few scratches. John and Penny were the last two over the crumbling half wall as the detonation charges went off, sealing the bunker similar to tombs of ancient kings. Ian turned to his comrades and asked, "Who is going to tell the tin man that we failed our mission?" Alex patted his shoulder as he remarked, "Looks like you just volunteered."

Pugnus Rubrum was in the storage bay overseeing the units under his command, he had nothing much to do during the warp travel for the Gellar Fields were holding surprisingly well. A well-dressed individual walked up to him and introduced himself, "It is a pleasure to meet you Magos Dominus. I am Barron Siezant of House Raven, the pilot of the Knight Crusader called _'Relentless Crusader'_. There must be a reason that you have humbled yourself to come here when you could have sent any of you other tech-priests." The Magos Dominus gestured around the storage bay as he responded, "And trust either Ira or Quin with these most blessed machine spirits?" Barron Siezant chuckled to himself at the Magos Dominus' antics. "I have come to inform you about the plans for when we reach the lost colony in a few months."

 **Notes: There will be a lot of time skips because Malleus' landing party will have little effect on the story until Pugnus' brigade arrives. I would cut to right when they land but a few minor things might be changed to the plot of RWBY before then, and that is why the next few chapters will be short. If you have any ideas for minor changes to the plot of RWBY, just put them in the review. But I have to say, this is going better than I have expected. The names of the Atlesian soldiers come from my friends I have meet in my Arma III group.**

 **Reviews: This section is to answer review from the previous chapter in case anyone else had the same question.**

 **Forge Master 00: Already have the army list for Pugnus, but your army list looks great. If anyone is wondering which edition I will be using, I am using the 8th edition Admech Codex. Thanks for the review, may you toaster army secure many victories for the Omnissiah!**

 **Guest: Malleus believes that he has found a lost human colony with a shatter moon, because that is the only logical explanation to his cogitators. While the people of Remnant have no records of life outside of Remnant's orbit. The answer will be given in a later chapter, don't want to spoil it.**

 **Chapter Master Sinclair: All are welcomed in the eyes of the holy Omnissiah! As long as you don't harm any toaster or defile the machine spirits. Thanks for the review!**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**


	3. Poll 1

**Poll One:**

 **I am debating whether or not the forces under Pugnus will be hostile to Atlas when they land. For example will they kill all of the robots on sight or save them after the Grimm are dealt with. Basically I am using this chapter to see if you, the readers, want to see the city of Atlas besieged by the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the near future or will they come to terms with them for mistaking the purpose of Malleus' landing party. Put you opinions in the review and after a day or two I will look at the results. I am doing this so the story will seem logical for the readers, and that you will get what you want from this story. And if the demands are half and half, I might just write about both options.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Reviews:**

 **Forge Master 00: The rubble from the ruins of Atlas will shake at the Imperial Knight's battle REEEEEEEE! Thanks for the review! As for your second review; all of the questions will be answered later, don't want to spoil it. Your second review helped a lot!**

 **Guest: To be honest I am only the major plot ideas down, for example when Pugnus lands on Remnant. Other than that I am just winging it on the fly. Your review will be taken into consideration, even if there was a necron tomb it would take a lot of probing to for them to fully awaken.**

 **Votes:**

 **Kill Atlas [4]**

 **Cease Fire Until They Find Penny [3]**

 **Spare Atlas [1]**

 **(Voting will end next chapter)**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: I am moving this up to here to try it out. Looks like Atlas is doomed to their fate, but what is the sentence of the others cities that aided them in the past. They will pay for their crimes against the Omnissiah for all will bow to his might! There may be polls in the future to determine what will happen to the story. Also thanks to Astral Dreadnought for helping me with the naval powers that Pugnus has in his fleet (one Dictator Class Cruiser, one Defiant Class Light Cruiser, and three Endeavour Class Light Cruiser). He is currently writing a story about a Rogue Trader Fleet that ends up on Remnant, go check it out.**

Chapter Three: Scheming's of Flesh and Machine

Ironwood sat at his desk filing thru paper work, as all headmasters should do in their free time. But the general did not want to call out his coffee addicted friend who texts with his alcoholic pawn all day. But that is not important right now, the real problem was that his squad he sent to the ruins with Penny did not return at the designated time. His calls toward the squad leader's scroll resulted in voicemail, this was concerning. Doctor Polendina has not come to rampage thru his office, that means that at least Penny is alive. Which also confirms that the squad completed one of their missions, even if it is the secondary one.

A singular knock came from the door, hopefully this is some good news. "Come in," ordered the general. The door slowly creaked open to reveal an Atlesian soldier standing up stiff. He marched up to the desk and saluted me with a worrying greeting, "Private Ian of the Atlesian Squad sent to investigate the ruins, acting squad leader." The general glared at the private for a moment, causing his left hand to twitch a bit. "Acting squad leader?" questioned Ironwood. The soldier gulped before answering, "Hans Schwarz and three other of my squad are KIA. His last orders was to destroy the entrance of the bunker trapping their bodies and the cultists. We did not have the resources to push into the bunker or siege out the bunker, so I ordered an RTB after a long and rigorous discussion with my squad mates."

Ironwood rubbed his temples as he slowly questioned, "Do you know what killed your four squad mates in the bunker?" Ian suddenly found the general's desk interesting to a higher degree than making eye contact. "Penny received a line of code that repeated over and over again in a language that she did not know. The only phrases that were not translated were Atlas and Adeptus Mechanicus. Once John cleared out the rubble blocking the bunker entrance, the line of code stopped emitting." The soldier stared at the desk to inspect every inch of it as the headmaster sighed and buried his face into the palms of his hands.

"So you are assuming that they were not killed by the White Fang, or Grimm. But instead put the blame on a newly found cult just because a line of scrap code the Penny's transmitters picked up? Did they teach you nothing during drill camp!" berated the general. Ian calmly asked, "What shall we tell their families? Because the story of how he collapsed a bunker controlled by the White Fang on top of themselves to stop their operations, sounds a lot better to the news. Rather than that half a squad of soldiers were mysteriously slain by a mysterious cult that only want the death of Atlas." Ironwood rose from his chair and jabbed his finger into the breastplate of the soldier. "I already have that problem solved! What I am concerned about is you lack of tactile sense! Do I need to send you all back to boot camp so that you can learn to use your fucking heads!" yelled the general at the top of his lungs.

"Only following orders sir," responded Ian. Ironwood slapped his across the face, "You were following the orders of a person that just got himself killed! Which allowed you to create new orders that override the retarded old ones!" The headmaster walked away from his desk and looked out of his window. The private followed the general's eyes to see the city of Atlas. Ironwood gave a long sigh before stating, "Looks like this mission proved the incompetence of my soldiers which the only way I can fix that is military reforms and sending you all back to training in waves. Tell what is left of your squads that you will be the first in line to reenter boot camp. Have fun."

Ozpin sat at his office quietly sipping his warm coffee he stared out of his office window. The students under his command had finished their incursion into Forever Fall Forest today, which yielded interesting results. The underdog of the first years managed to slain an Ursa in single combat, suspicious for someone who forged their transcripts. But his partner informed the heiress and the silver eyed teen that her semblance is polarity, which she used to help Jaune. In his personal opinion she should use her semblance more in combat, it would make her a threat to anyone with a metal weapon. Ozpin was brought out of his plotting when he received a text from another headmaster. 'I have found a new terrorist organization, will talk more about them when I arrive in Vale.' A brand of terrorist? Perhaps a certain crow should look into them after he is done with his current lead.

Magos Dominus Pugnus sat at the conference table along with five other adepts, two Dominus (Domini or Dominuses?), two Enginseer, and a cybernetica datasmith. Pugnus addressed everyone currently in the room, -We are halfway to our destination, and thankfully the Gellar fields are still holding strong. When we reach the planet, a patrol detachment will be sent to the surface. It will be more than what Dominus Malleus had, but don't expect much. Does anyone volunteer to be part of the landing party to start diplomacy with the local and organize a secure landing point for the rest of our forces? - One of the Dominus' hand shot up, two Enginseer hands slowly followed.

The Cybernetica Datasmith commented, -I am fine with going to the planet or staying on in orbit as long as I am with the blameless machines. So that they can exterminate the enemies of the Omnissiah at a faster rate, but it will never be fast enough. - The Dominus that did not raise his hand informed the datasmith, -We know that already Cyber, all you care about is the Kastelans and that is okay. - The newly named Cyber turned his head to glare into the Dominus' lenses, an aura of malice raided off of the Datasmith. -How many times have I told you to use my forge given name, Datasmith-1721. Or do you want me to start calling you Quin Decium? - threatened Cyber. Quin countered, "I have been trying to get you to call me by my name, instead of a bunch of numbers! Ira has been trying to do the exact same thing! - The other Dominus waved at the mention of her name.

Pugnus broke up the argument with the sound of his eradication ray charging. -We can only send three of you to the planet because more than that will be a waste of men. Datasmith-1721 is definitely going with Kastelan Unit Alpha. Ira will also leave because she raised her hand first, that leaves us with one spot left. And they will need to be able to handle diplomacy because the other two are more suited toward combat.- The Enginseer turned to each other and started playing servo-arm omnissian axe omnispex shoot (their version of rock papers scissors shoot) to figure out who would probably be sent to the surface to die in the name of the Omnissiah.

Quin asked, -Are we not already at war with the primitives? - The Magos Dominus explained, -We are at war with the feudals that identify themselves as Atlas. That means that there is a chance that there could be other feudals under different banners. We gathered that information from Malleus' second message, two months after he landed on the planet surface.- -But what if the planet is united, similar to all other lost colonies that the Adeptus Mechanicus has encountered?- interrupted the female Dominus. Pugnus gestured to his eradication ray, which cause the Ira to smile slightly. She always had the habit of turning to her ways as a Graian Tech-Priest even after her mind was been wiped during the trade deal.

-After a rigorous debate. We have concluded that Enginseer-8873, otherwise known as Eights, will be on the patrol detachment heading landing on the planet, - informed the two Enginseer in unison. Pugnus announced to the room, -So it has been settled, Dominus Ira Ferrum, Datasmith-1721, and Enginseer Eights will be sent with patrol to the lost colony. They will lead Skitarii Unit Charlie, Skitarii Unit Foxtrot, Kataphron Unit Charlie, Servitor Unit Alpha, Sydonian Unit Alpha, Sydonian Unit Beta, Kastelan Unit Alpha, and Onager Unit Alpha. It is up to you whether or not you want to exterminate the Atlas heretics, but be ready to give a highly detailed report when you do.-

 **Note: The Ad Mech part could be confusing, if it is I will write a list of names and ranks in the next chapter's notes.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Reviews:**

 **Chapter Master Sinclair: Your vote has been put into consideration. Servitor-hood might be too nice for the general. Thanks for the review!**

 **Abyssal Plague: Penny could still be considered tech heresy, but will Ironwood sacrifice his pride to live longer? Thanks for the review!**

 **Sonic: Thanks mate!**

 **Forge Master 00: Don't know who you are talking about because my RWBY lore is rusty. But in by format for writing chapters I already have your name in the review section because you do one for every chapter, which has helped me have ideas. Thanks for the review!**

 **Mephistopheless: The debate between Penny being and AI, Men of Iron, Tech Heresy, or Robot will be part of a latter poll. (Probably after this chapter) A naval bombardment of Atlas is not happening now because they don't know where Atlas is and how far their sphere of influence reaches. Also settlers from forge worlds would take a year just to organize and another year to ship them to the planet with a shattered moon. Converting the populous will save precious time, which the Adeptus Mechanicus has little of when fighting the enemies of man. Thanks for the review mate!**

 **Votes:**

 **Kill Atlas [5]**

 **Cease Fire Until They Find Penny [4]**

 **Spare Atlas [1]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: Sorry for not posting sooner, family and school caught up with me. I am planning for the Ad Mech and Atlas to have a fragile non-aggression pact while the Grimm are more of a threat, idea from Staccat. BUT this will not last long so don't get upset over it. Sorry for long chapter, might do larger chapter in the future but at the cost of posting less.**

Chapter Four: Live Target Practice

 **Two Months Later**

Dominus Ira Ferrum stood in the hanger bay of the _Astral Knight_ , a Dictator Class Cruiser,with the other higher up in the brigade, everything was set up for planet fall except for one thing. Where do they plan to land on the planet? The female dominus wanted to land where Malleus landed and exterminate all hostiles there to please the Omnissiah. Quin Decium argued that since Malleus was _almost_ shot out of the sky by feudal anti-aircraft while in a light weight aircraft, that their heavy aircraft would be destroyed with their squads of Legiones Skitarii. Cyber agreed with Quin, which was a first, because he did not want his precious Kastelan Robots to be harmed. They continued their petty squabble as the twin enginseers recorded the dialogue. -For the love of the Omnissiah and everything that has a machine spirit! Will you stop bickering in acts representing juvenile flesh bags! - screamed the Magos Dominus thru his personal vox.

He gestured to the holographic map of the planet's surface, the central continent to be specific. Pugnus ordered, -You _will_ land on the central land mass and you will not harm them, _unless_ they work with Atlas. After you have secured the trust of the local militia, Quin will lead the second patrol detachment down to the planet. The rest remaining in orbit will act as reserved ready at all times for rapid reinforcement, I will personal lead the Knights into battle if needed.- The five others in the conversation responded as one, -As the Omnissiah will it.- The Magos Dominus nodded in satisfaction as he turned around to leave the group to their woes. Pugnus strolled deeper into the hanger bay to inspect the most holy Knights. He had served to Omnissiah for 231 years, 2 months, and 27 days, yet he never had the honor to repair a Knight Crusader in an active warzone. That task was saved for the senior tech-priest, which was never him until now.

Ira stepped into her Vulture with Datasmith-1721 and Enginseer Eights, she checked her Eradication Ray to be sure that the machine spirit was pleased. It was not, it craved for the blood of the heretic and xeno almost to the point of a Khornate Berserker in the midst of a grand battle. Her macrostubber on the other hand was passive and only cared that it and its yielder was safe. She had eight years to go till she served the Omnissiah for a century, she was the youngest Dominus in the brigade. And that made her the most expendable. Ira was always sent to the most dangerous part of the front line, but for some reason she felt the most at peace there. She had conferences with several Magos Dominus multiple times about these feelings being a demon tempting her, but he would always state that _'silica cleanses us from temptation'_.

Four Vultures and one heavy troop transport left the safety of the fleet and into the exosphere of the lost human colony. All on board the vessels were silent, you could hear the subtle creaks in the hulls as they were being affected by the planet's gravitational pull. The four ships still in orbit stationed behind to shattered moon and out of sight of the feudals, Pugnus did not wish to start massive distress of their ships being sited now. They will show them the true power of the Adeptus Mechanicus when they start to doubt. He fleet could not stay long in orbit and would have to leave at some point in time, they could not be a crutch used to keep the primitives in line. His skitarii would do just fine.

Ozpin and Glynda stood at the foot of the clock shaped window in the headmaster's office, in their view was an Atlesian Battleship (they have no official name but you know what I am talking about). The professor commented with disdain laced in her voice, "Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." "Well, running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." reasoned Ozpin. Her lack of answer cause him to continued, "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." A beeping sound from his desk drew the attention of the two people in the room, a holographic message was asking for access. "Come in," stated the old man as General Ironwood slowly strolled into the headmaster's office.

The Atlesian headmaster greeted his fellow headmaster, who returned the greeting in kind. They two went at their ping pong game of words as Professor Goodwitch left the room. Each asking questions they already knew the answer to and stating warnings of what they know will come. They passed who was talked back and forth to each other for a few minutes, all just to keep the other on their toes. Ironwood finished the match as he answered, "I'm just being cauti-." Ozpin tilted his head at the general's unfinished statement. The Atlesian marched over to the window and stared at the five white airships landing in the distance. He muttered under his breath, "Now there are more of them." Ozpin jested, "Are those your new airships General?" Ironwood did not take his eyes off of the five airships, they are different than last time.

"They are owned by a new cult that calls themselves the 'Adeptus Mechanicus'. They see the flesh is weak and seek to remove the authorities of Atlas. A few of my soldiers shot them out of the sky half a year ago, and a squad had a skirmish with them four months ago," explained the General and his left hand tightened, making his knuckles as white as his coat. Ozpin quickly pulled up the camera feed of roughly were they were landing, between Mountain Glenn and the School. The weird VTOL aircraft landed and the back door lowered and three figures with white robes and red edges exited the craft. The first figure was hunched over with metal coming out of his back, in his hand was a double handed axe, hanging on his side was what appeared to be a glowing weapon. The second figure stood up right but two metal tentacles originated from under his robes, in his hands was a similar axe to the first figure. The final figure was the most converted. His entire upper body was machine with his left hand being twice the size of the other, in his right hand was a pistol with a blue glow.

The three figures stared at each other for a long and silent moment as the VTOL airship left them. The microphone could not catch what they were saying and only gave static. Ironwood's eyes widened as he inspected them, while Ozpin was mostly concerned what the general did to upset them. The third figure snapped his vision onto the hidden camera as the microphone caught a metallic voice, "Greetings feudals, I am Cybernetica Datasmith-1721 of Forge World Metalica. I am part of the landing party with a patrol detachment. We are under orders from Magos Dominus Pugnus Rubrum to avenge Dominus Malleus Rubrum who was attacked by an unprovoked Atlas six months ago."

Ozpin could not help but to glare at Ironwood at his brazen militarism. Ironwood tried to make amends, "I will send a squa-." The wizard cut him off, "No. _I_ will send a team of students to talk with them for their first mission. _Your_ soldiers will stay out of this problem that they caused." The general crossed his arms and asked, "And why not send a team of fully trained huntsmen instead?" The headmaster gestured to the 'Datasmith' on screen who was still staring at the camera unmoving. "I only know one person with a semblance of polarity and they do love their metal," he explained with a smile on his face.

Cyber turned to Dominus Ira and stated, -The feed has been shut down, and I know where the signal came from. It is not far from here.- The Enginseer, Eights, cut in, -It would be better to regroup with our forces and build an FOB like the Magos Dominus has ordered us.- Cyber hardened his grip on his gamma pistol as he stared off into the distance. The sound of trees cracking, inhuman screams, and the distinct sound of phosphex weapons being fired. Ira ordered, -We only have three units with phosphex weapons. Datasmith-1721, go and run to you machines.- Cyber did not waste a second as he started sprinting to his most prized Kastelan Unit Alpha. Ira did not know why the datasmith loved the robots of war, but one of the senior enginseers explained to her that he was saved by those Kastelan Robots more times than he had fingers since he started his holy service to the Omnissiah.

Datasmith-1721 ran thru the unknown forest headlong to find his goal. He gave them the nickname _Grim Shepherds_ , for they guided the flock of the Machine God's servant during the grimmest of times. Thru the thick tree trunks he could six robots of war in a defensive circle laying fire into pitch black creatures with bone white plates. They were stuck on their Aegis Protocol, which did help their armor but the Protector Protocol was more suited for them. Thankfully their Repulsor Grids were active and were absorbing 73.66% of all of the creatures' attacks, and 40.33% of the time the beast would be fried. Cyber could not but to sigh at the beauty of the Kastelan Robots mowing thru the weak creatures. The changing of the protocols would weaken the Repulsors Grid, but their Heavy Phosphor Blasters would at twice the rate. Which would be more preferable in this situation.

Ironwood quickly left the office as Ozpin sat into his chair as he minimized the camera feed showing the three members of this new 'cult', as described by the brash general. The mic picked up more static, which annoyed Ozpin a little bit, but his despair has put on hold when the sound of Grimm was picked up by the microphone. He reopened the feed and saw the, what was his name? Cybersomething Datasmith. The wizard had a hard time remembering the name for the figure, but he decided in his brain to refer to him as CD. Anyway, CD started running towards the sound of Grimm in the distance which were answered by a sound that sounded similar to gunfire. Must be some of the patrol with them. Ozpin switched from camera feed to camera feed to trail the dead bolting figure as he ran thru Emerald Forest.

After a few minutes of running, Ozpin saw what CD was searching for. It was a group of six white painted robots standing at 14 feet tall, with an LMG mounted on their shoulder and two more LMGs replacing their hands. They laid endless fire into the beowolf pack, their claws bounced off of the robot's armor. Also a field covered the robots body when they Grimm would strike at them and turn the attacking into black smoke, but this happened rarely. Whenever one of their LMG fired a white sphere that hit a beowolf, it would cling onto the target and start to melt the Grimm alive. The beasts' inhuman cries and roars filled the silence from the 'cultists'. Once the Grimm hoard was fading into black smoke, CD was inspecting the corpses from every angle. But when it would eventually disappear and the man who glare at the smoke as it dissipated.

Cyber glared at the creatures that attacked the _Grim Shepherds_ , their bodies faded leaving no trace of them being there. Somewhere in the deep recess of his brain, he felt a sense of disgust. They were dumber than the orks but their bodies faded out of the materium similar to the daemons of the warp. These creatures had not right to exist, they need to be _cleansed_. And what is better to solve the equation then burning phosphex. Cyber quickly reported over the vox channel, -This is Datasmith-1721, the _Grim Shepherds_ have encountered a pack of hostile creatures. I assume they are of daemonic origin based on the fact their bodies are turning to smoke. - The communication channel was silence for longer than it should have. -Repeat last Cyber, - ordered the Dominus. The datasmith chose to shorten his report, -The blessed machines have exterminated a pack of local daemons, and I do not recognize their species.-

Ira barked over the noosphere, -All units; regroup at grip ref 257-521. It is located in the middle of a clearing were we will set up a landing point. Location will not be referred as LZ Saltus. - All of the squads replied different messages but with the same meaning. Moving to destination. The Dominus and Enginseer waited for the Datasmith and Kastelan Robot to catch up with them before heading to LZ Saltus, it was safer to travel in numbers. Dominus Ira led the group, cutting down any foliage in their path with the Omnissian Axe, with Eights and Cyber marching behind her will scanning the tree line with their auspex. The six battle-automata that make up the _Grim Shepherds_ marched in ranks of two, their heavy phosphor blasters ready if any hostiles are spotted.

Ironwood watched the five cultist airships leave Emerald Forest. They did not approach the city of Vale, they must have dropped off soldiers in the forest! He only saw the contents of one of them before he stormed out of Ozpin's office, the three of them must have been the leaders of the force sent to the woods. To kill a snake, you must first cut off the head. He barked to the nearest soldier, "I want five bullheads to follow those cultists from a distance. I want to find out where their base is, kill them if needed. Set every squad of soldiers into the city on alert for those damned cultists." The soldier quickly scampered off, while repeating the orders thru his scroll. As the cultist's VTOLs were becoming dots on the horizon, five Atlesian bullheads took off and trailed them. Ozpin watched from his office window at the top of the tower, he could not help but to sigh.

The convoy marched thru the strange forest, only the sound of servo joints and the cutting of foliage could be heard. Eights called out, -At least 10 local creatures, 200 meters, direct left.- The snap of the Kataphron Robot's heavy phosphor blasters answered his call out. The female dominus glared at the pack, they were not rushing the convoy head long like the orks. But they rushed the Kataphrons earlier without a care in the world, which might have been a probing attack. They started to remind Ira of tyranids more than orks, and logic dictates that there could be more species of these creatures. -Don't fire, I want to know if their action are by accident or strategies,- ordered the Dominus.

The pilot of the vulture yelled, -Five unidentified VTOLs trailing us, less than a click out!- -Launching communications with them,- responded the co-pilot. Meanwhile on the Atlesian bullheads a mysterious metallic voice spoke thru the speakers, "We know you are trailing us. If you do not state where you are from we will consider you hostile. 10 seconds to respond." The pilot turned to face the co-pilot, both had no idea what to do. The co-pilot shrugged and stated, "Atla-." "Turn around or be fired upon," interrupted the metallic voice.

The anxiety of a pending encounter crept into the cogitators of Ira Ferrum. She stared over to the pack to spot a strange gesture. One of the creatures turned to charge them, but the snap of the pack leader kept the creature in formation. How peculiar. The dominus saved the recording and gave the two species names. Lupus for the creatures in general and Lupus Alpha for the larger pack leader, named after the extinct species with similar appearance from Terra. A call came over the vox channel, -Dominus Ferrum, we have five Atlesian VTOL craft trailing us. We have warned them to turn around or be fired upon, what are your orders? - -Give Onager Unit Alpha a little bit of target practice, - coldly responded the female dominus.

The pilot of the Atlesian bullhead called Ironwood after the metallic voice stopped replying to any questions they asked. The co-pilot started talking, "They found out that we are trailing them, and they started a call with us. The demand that we turn around or be shot down." The general slammed his fist into the bullhead he was standing next to, denting the perfectly smooth hull. He barked, "They have taken a hostile stance, shot four of them down to send a message! DO I NEED TO REFORM THE AIRFORCE LIKE I DID TO THE ARMY?" The pilot shook his head quickly. "All bullheads, knock four of their VTOLs out of the sky," coldly stated the co-pilot over the channel. The other co-pilots responded, "Roger tha-."

Ozpin watched from his office as the skirmish over Emerald Forest started. A previously unknown anti-aircraft position fired missiles, rockets and high caliber gun fire from under the canopy. That was probably from one of the 'cultists' soldiers that landed in the forest. Two Atlesian Bullheads exploded in the air while a third have losing altitude. The two other bullheads quickly waved off and started to return back to Vale. The headmaster quickly pulled up the video feed from where the missiles roughly originated. To his surprise he saw a pure white four legged crawler surrounded by ten robed cyborgs shorter than the three unknown figures from before. Smoke was still dissipating from the crawler's weapons, showing signs of recent use.

Cliff hanger because reasons.

 **Known Units: Here is a list of known Ad Mech forces on Remnant (including names)**

 _ **Grim Shepherds:**_ **Six Kataphron Robots all armed with three Heavy Phosphor Blasters.**

 **Onager Unit Alpha: One Onager Dunecrawler armed with an Icarus Array, going to give it a special name next chapter. You can recommend your own in the reviews.**

 **Skitarii Unit Charlie: Ten Skitarii Rangers armed with Galvanic Rifles and a** **Enhanced Data-Tether.**

 **Ira Ferrum: One Dominus armed with an Eradication Ray, Macrostubber, and Omnissian Axe.**

 **Eights: One Enginseer armed with a Laspistol and an Omnissian Axe.**

 **Cyber-1721: One Cybernetica Datasmith armed with a Gamma Pistol and a Power Fist.**


	6. Poll 2

**Poll Two: Trial of Penny**

 **Description of Penny:**

 **-They say that she is a robot**

 **-She can generate Aura, might mean an implanted soul or synthetic soul**

 **Options:**

 **Automata (Robot):**

 **-Non-Sentient Machine**

 **-Machine Spirit**

 **Men of Iron:**

 **-Anti-Human Views**

 **-Limited A.I, non-sentient**

 **Silica Animus (Abominable Intelligence):**

 **-True A.I.**

 **-Pure Machine**

 **Archeotech (Ancient STC):**

 **-Forbidden Archeotech (Tech-Heresy)**

 **-Lost Archeotech (Spare Penny)**

 **Notes: Don't know if the synthetic soul that Penny might have would be considered a Machine Spirit, an AI, or a soul. So that is why I am leaving it up to y'all, have fun! Some of the options do overlap on each other, but I don't want someone complaining about "why you didn't included this certain phrase." You, the readers, will act as the jury for the fate of Penny if the Ad Mech find out about her before the tournament.**


	7. Chapter 5

**Reviews:**

 **Kyralus: The Ad Mech will not be okay with Penny, that is a given. If she has a soul than that would be a form of tech-heresy. Also no known ad mech member created Penny.**

 **Dovahsinn270: Thanks for your clarification of the differences between the soul and machine spirit. Penny's heretical nature of creation will be discovered in the future.**

 **Forge Master 00(Chp 6 review): Your holy knowledge of STC research will sway the other tech-priest to agree with you. I am going to cancel some of the options for the sentencing, both of the Archeotech will be removed because of your helpful information. To be honest I should have added an option for feudal stc.**

 **Forge Master 00(Chp 5 review): Your list of positions the students of Beacon will be useful in the future. If they live to see the light of the Omnissiah.**

 **Ronmr: The state of Penny will be a complicated debate when the tech-priest find out about her. Or would it be better to say if they find her? I might just write it off as she is an offence to the Omnissiah and must die, ONLY if it get too complicated. Nice Angry Marines pfp.**

 **CykaBlyat1917: You dare praise the flesh as equal to the most blessed and graceful machine?! The machine is the perfect aspect of mankind, and the flesh is weak. Flesh only leads to death while steal is immortal!**

 **Votes:**

 **Automata [1]**

 **Men of Iron [0]**

 **Silica Animus [2]**

 **Forbidden Archeotech**

 **Lost Archeotech**

 **Feudal STC [2]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: I am having a bad habit where I put the exact number of grim killed in each volley during the combat scene. It turns it into a game log instead of a story, and it took me awhile to better incorporate the fight scene into the story. I may not be able to post again in a while because I am going to meet relatives in a different state, but I will be back in within the next two weeks.**

Chapter Five: Polar Opposites

 **Make sure to read chapter four (the fifth one) before reading this, otherwise you will be lost.**

Dominus Ira Ferrum reached the edge of the tree line and found out that the Lupus might be more intelligent then she assumed. In the middle of the clearing was another pack of ten Lupus, leaving them with twenty to fight from two directions. -Three Kastelans on each pack will take care of them, fire at will! - yelled Ira to the _Grim Shepherds._ The robots kept moving while firing, but that would not slow their wrath. Superheated spheres of phosphex cut thru trees and vaporized their targets. Within six seconds seventeen Lupus were slain, leaving two Lupus Alpha and one Lupus.

Instead of charging them, similar to orks, they chose to return into the deeper parts of the forest. It appears that the Lupus Alphas have minimal intelligence and known where the other packs are located without using any verbal form of communication. A strange noise emitted from the datasmith's vox, it sounded similar to wheezing. Eights asked -Are you okay Cyber? - -Yes, I could not help but to laugh at the slaughtering of the enemies of the Omnissiah, - responded the datasmith as he checked the heavy phosphor blasters for jams. A few of the nearby trees audible groaned as they started to collapse.

Ozpin watched silently as the strange robots laid waste to two small Grimm packs in the span of six seconds. Their technology will greatly improve his chances to defeat the Queen. That is if they cooperate with him. He calmly texted a certain student in the academy, "Bring your team to my office in five minutes with combat gear." Outside Beacon Academy, a special general was attempting not to break his scroll as he saw two of his bullheads heading to land. The answer to his confusion was three smoke plumes emerging from Emerald Forest. A voice spoke thru Ironwood's scroll, "General, they have a hidden AA position in the forest. We waved off before he lost more bullheads and men. We were unable to catch the cultist's VTOL's in firing range."

Team JNPR stood in the elevator as the floor numbers slowly ticked up. Ren was stopping Nora from bouncing off the walls, both literally and figuratively. Pyrrha was an unmoving statue, while her partner's hands were fidgeting. A light chime signaled that they reached the top of the tower, where they were greeted with Ozpin sitting in his chair with the sun at his back. The rays of light gave a sort of holy halo around Ozpin, and it caused Jaune to shield his eyes with his hand. "I have a secret mission for you four," cryptically stated the headmaster as he gestured to the four chairs in front of him. Team JNPR silently walked up to the desk and sat in the chairs. Ozpin turned his scroll around to show the children the footage he had on hand.

The camera feed replayed a group of six tall robot with three human sized robots watching two packs of ten Grimm each. All of them were dressed in white, but no symbols of Atlas were found. The speakers emitted a burst of static before the six taller robots readied their weapons and tore thru the surrounding trees with gunfire. Their ammo were not standard dust rounds, it appeared to be some sort of heated liquid that acts like bullets. In six seconds the packs were devastated, after the fight the robot with the giant hand checked on the six taller robots. Ozpin informed them, "General Ironwood informs me that they are part of a 'cult' called the Adeptus Mechanicus. We only know that they view that the flesh is weak and are hostile to Atlas. Skirmishes between Atlesian and their forces date as far back as a year." The headmaster did air quotes when he mentioned cult.

The headmaster gestured to the three smoke clouds in the distance as he continued speaking, "There you can see the remains of the five bullheads that Ironwood foolishly sent to investigate them. Your task is to find where they are going and if they are hostile to Vale. There is a bullhead with the icon of Vale waiting for you at the docks, and it will leave in less than ten minutes. Good luck." The four first year students glanced at each other before running back to the elevator. A low chuckle exited Ozpin's lips as he took another sip from his mug. Today was going to be interesting.

Ira Ferrum was processing the situation at hand while surrounded by soldiers loyal to her who were currently building defensive positions. She recalled the list of units under her command and what they specialize in to better comprehend her limits. She, Eights, and Cyber were the only members that could repair the other soldiers. Making them worth more than a Leman Russ. Skitarii Unit Charlie and Skitarii Unit Foxtrot are the ranger and vanguard variants respectively. They act as the cannon fodder of the detachment with the Kataphron Unit Charlie, of the Breacher variant, to assist them. When the enemy would crash on the wall of Skitarii, the two Sydonian Dragoon Units will focus on two different tasks. One unit is to use their taser goads and phosphor serpentas to slay any fast moving hostiles while the other will use their radium jezzails to assassinate the head of the snake.

The Kastelans act as suppressing fire to destroy cover and the enemies' onslaught, Cyber will be assigned to repair them. Then there is the lone Onager as Anti-Aircraft, the great responsibility of protecting the machine will fall on Eights and the four battle servitors. That will leave the Dominus on the front lines in the midst of combat keeping the skitarii alive. She was finished with her planning when the Enginseer rushed over to where she was standing. -Dominus Ira, auspex scans should signs of a large hoard of unknown creatures moving towards our camp. Best guess at the type of lifeform would be Lupus or another _Xenos_ species, - reported Eights. The other tech-priest in the battalion seemed to have a high distaste for anything not human. She did share that feeling but to a lesser extent, Ira could tolerate xenos if they fight in the name of the Omnissiah like the Felinids.

-Set up a front line of Skitarii, Kataphrons, and Kastelans to face the xenos hoard. Keep the Dragoons on standby until they try to flank us or a leader reveals themselves. You and the servitors will guard the Onager, - ordered the Dominus thru the noosphere which caused the entire force to move with peek machine precision. Once the units were in position, as if it was perfectly planned, a Lupus pack could be seen behind the tree line. After a quick auspex scan, there were around ninety Lupus and they could reach the Skitarii front line in 24 standard terran seconds. The female tech-priest walked to the front lines and barked over her vox, -ONCE THEY BREAK THRU THE TREE LINE, MAKE THE DIRT INTO MUD WITH THEIR BLOOD!-

A mental countdown went thru every cogitator of the skitarii until the Protector Doctrina Imperative would activate. The timer reached 0 to which the Skitarii Rangers and Kataphron Breachers opened fire Cyber held up the Kastelans because one had a speck of dirt in his gun so he was _forced_ to check all of the others. Six seconds of sustained fire passed, Ira held a death grip on her Omnissian Axe to stop her from charging into the hoard. The female tech-priest slow watched as the numbers of Lupus presented by the auspex slowly ticked down every three seconds. Eighty-one. Seventy-one. Sixty. Forty-nine.

Ira was brought out of her trace at the numbers when the Skitarii Vanguard joined the chorus of fire as the Rangers switched to rapid fire. Twenty-nine. Nine. The Lupus hoard was being shredded by the superior firepower of the Omnissiah. None of the xeno reached within 30 feet of the front line, their corpses slowly turning into smoke. Sadly they could be used for defensive positions. They have won against three to one odds, but victory is given to only the faithful. The time to relish in victory was swiftly ended when a rune appeared on the auspex. A group of four humans was approaching their position from the opposite side of the FOB that the tech-priest was on. It is too small of a group for regular soldiers. Possible chance of elite troops or scouts from the feudal city, either way it was phrased it did not process as friendly.

Jaune and his teammates sat hidden in the foliage near the tree line as they watched the white robed cultist. On the opposite side of the clearing, a large pack of Beowolves were lying on the ground like Swiss cheese from their fire. "What is the plan Jaune," asked Pyrrha as she held her shield and rifle in hand. There was at least fifty cultist with vehicles designed for war, team JNPR could not hold a minute against them. Their mission was to find out if they were hostile to Vale, but asking that question out of the blue would be awkward. He knew that they hated Atlas, so maybe if they state that they are from Vale and then go into a conversation about why they are here. That could work.

The leader turned to face his team as he whispered, "I have a plan. They are hostile to Atlas but we do not know about their stance against Vale. We are going to walk towards them with our weapons lowered-" Jaune's planning was cut off when a bullet impacted the tree above his head. A mechanical voice yelled from the clearing, "That is incorrect. You are going to walk out of the tree line with your hands raised. Our stance with Vale is not hostile, _yet_." Team JNPR slowly followed the mechanical voice's orders. Once they exited out of the tree line they could see twenty of the cultist in a firing line pointed at them and a figure with multiple metal snakes coming out of his robes standing behind them. A floating skull followed behind the figure.

"Who is your leader?" asked what Jaune assumed was their leader. He introduced himself, "That would be me, Jaune Arc of team JNPR." The leader of the cultist stared intently at Jaune for a long and silent moment, Pyrrha responded with an inquisitive glare of her own. The leader eventually responded, "I am Dominus Ira Ferrum. You are going to slowly approach the firing line so that we can continue…negotiations inside the camp. Any attempts to attack or escape will result in all under you command a long and painful death." Jaune turned to face his team before slowly walking to meet Dominus Ira Ferrum. He slowly walked past the firing line of cultist who did not move an inch as he passed over their trench, they might be robots like what Atlas builds.

"So Mister Ferrum," started Jaune, but Ira raised a hand to stop him. He informed the team leader, "You made two mistakes there. One, I am biological female. Two, refer to me with the title of Dominus." Jaune gave the tech-priest a confused look, he decided not to question of the person pointing a strange gun at him. If Ruby was here she would have been annoying them with a bullhead load of questions. He restarted the discussion, "So Dominus Ferrum, why are you here?" "What did your superiors ordered you to find out about us?" retorted the Dominus. Jaune was confused why Ira let him talk first just to interrupt him. He gave her a confused look before answering, "Headmaster Ozpin wanted to know if you were hostile to Vale."

The tech-priest was quiet as she pondered what the flesh bag told him. The northern city was under Atlas' control but this city here was under control of Vale. He asked if they were hostile to Vale, that means that Atlas and Vale are not in a military alliance or one is the client state of the other. They might be in a defensive alliance for Cyber told the camera that Atlas attacked first. Now this Headmaster Ozpin is probably in a position of power in Vale, and judging by the ages and gear of the children it is a military school.

Ira questioned "Is there any way you can contact your headmaster?" To her surprise, Jaune took out a piece of glass and metal from his pocket. The device, after a few presses, projected a holographic video feed of a old man sitting in a metal chair that resembles gears. The man himself had spectacles on the bridge of his nose, his outfit consisted of different shades of green on the darker side. His hair is silver while his eyebrows is black, suggested that his hair color changed either by stress or by manual means. "You must be the leader of the Adeptus Mechanicus that General Ironwood told me so much about," calmly stated the old man. The dominus retorted, "You must be Headmaster Ozpin, your students are most compliment when a gun is pointed in their general direction."

Jaune slowly turned the camera to show the rest of team JNPR in the distance with the firing squad trained on their position. Ira continued, "Now headmaster, could you explain your city's relationship with Atlas. For they have soldiers in your city and you seem friendly towards them, and the ally of my enemy is an enemy to me." Ozpin narrowed his eyes as he explained, "Atlas has their forces here to safeguard Vale for the Vytal Festival. The kingdoms of Remnant have been peaceful to each other for the past eighty years." A wheezing sound escaped the mask of the tech-priest. Jaune placed a hand on the robes of the dominus and asked, "Are you okay Dominus Ferrum?" Ira quickly regained her composure as she explained, "I am sorry for that outburst. That is the hilarious statement I have heard in ninety years!"

Ozpin ignored that fact that this Dominus Ferrum started to laugh when he stated the word 'peaceful'. "We can have negotiations between you and General Ironwood to stop this useless fighting and deal with greater threats at hand. For example the Grimm," proposed the Headmaster. Ira turned to face the pack of Lupus corpses to only find that they were gone by now. She reasoned, "So that is what the locals call the species of wildlife we refer to as Lupus. You feudals are always so scared of the little things. I will be happy to discuss your planet's integration into the Imperium of Man with the city of Vale." Ozpin tilted his head at the statement, "Are you saying that you are not from this planet?" "You will understand later when I reach Vale with my personal guard. I assume you can keep General Ironwood from being trigger happy." retorted the Dominus.

Ozpin pondered on the proposition, he could keep Ironwood from attacking the Dominus under the act of them coming for negotiations. "Team JNPR will lead you to Vale for negotiations," ordered the headmaster. The Dominus slowly shook his head, "You are wrong Ozpin, team JNPR will remain here and I will walk to Vale with the directions they will give me. If anything happens to me in Vale then the same will happen to them, think of it as a cultural exchange." The headmaster stared at team JNPR thru the scroll while they raised their hands up to the sky. He calmly warned the cultists, "I can agree to those terms, but know this. If anything happens to my students there will be repercussions."

The call ended and the dominus turned to face Jaune, he quickly put away the scroll into his pockets and stared into Ira's ocular lenses. A loud chirp escaped her mask and the firing line of cultists slowly lowered their weapons and gestured for team JNPR to come closer. They slowly lowered their hands and approached the trench. Jaune pointed to the direction of Vale and stated, "Vale is fifth teen minutes in that direction if you walk." She nodded as a group of four heavy augmented humans followed the dominus as she left for the city. Pyrrha approached Jaune and whispered in his ear, "My semblance is not working on the cultist or weapons." Nora squatted near the trench and inspected the cultist while Ren stood silently behind her. "Are they robot?" asked the hyperactive student. A mechanical voice behind them stated, "The Cybernetica Datasmith is currently working on the blameless robots, they however are the Skitarii."

Ren turned around to see a figure similar to the Dominus, but he had a giant mechanical claw instead of unique weapons. The figure introduced himself, "I am Enginseer-8873, but you can call me Eights due to your feeble minds." "So you build stuff like an engineer?" questioned his partner. Eights stood there silently for a moment before stating, "No, my job is to maintain repair, and safeguard the Imperium's machines of war." Ren asked, "I have never heard of the Imperium, where is it?" Eights chuckled before gesturing to the sky, "Where else but across the stars child. For 10,000 years mankind fought tooth and nail to earn their rightful place as rulers of the galaxy! Your planet is one of the many human colonies lost during the Age of Strife, and as the shepherds of humanity we will bring all sheep back into the flock."

Jaune and Pyrrha walked over to join the conversation as Eights stated, "How rude of me, I did not given any of you the chance to introduce yourselves." Jaune reintroduced himself before giving the names of his teammates in quick succession. Pyrrha noticed that he did not change his posture when her name was stated, maybe they do not know about her. The figure reintroduced himself to Jaune and Pyrrha. "So you are from space?" asked the leader. The tech-priest gestured to the soldiers around him, "Have you seen anything similar to this on this planet?" Team JNPR took a good moment to inspect the other cultist, the crawler and tracked soldiers creeped out the students. "Ozpin said that General Ironwood described you as cultists, is that correct or slander?" asked the composed redhead.

Eights carefully explained, "General Ironwood described us as cultists to insult us. The phrasing is accurate for everyone here is faithful to the Cult Mechanicus and to the larger Adeptus Mechanicus." Pyrrha continued her questioning, "What is the difference between the Cult Mechanicus and the Adeptus Mechanicus? How does those connect to the Imperium of Man" The Enginseer interlocked his fingers as he sighed. "To write a basic history of the Imperium would take a month, so I will give a dumbed down version. The Adeptus Mechanicus provides the Imperium of Man with scientist, engineers, technicians, and supplies for war. Depending on who you ask, some say the Adeptus Mechanicus is an organization in the Imperium while others say that the Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperium are allies. The Cult Mechanicus is the religion of the Adeptus Mechanicus that most members follow."

Eights turned the path of the conversation, "What are the creatures that you call Grimm?" Ren answered, "The Grimm are creatures of destruction that lack a soul. They are drawn to negative emotions which has caused countless villages to be razed to the ground." The tech-priest nodded before heading deeper into the camp. Ren ended his secret call with Ozpin from the scroll inside his pocket. Unknown to them, the Enginseer stopped broadcasting the conversation on his personal vox channel with the other tech-priests. -So it appear that the conquest of Atlas could wait to push back the Grimm menace, - stated the female dominus across the vox channel.


	8. Chapter 6

**Reviews:**

 **Carre: Thanks for the proposal that might happen in the future and your explanation of Penny.**

 **Guest: Remnant will join the Imperium, either has a death world or a hive world. That is up to the citizens of the lost colony. The statement of it being soon might not happen.**

 **Axccel: Going back to the last chapter I can see what caused the troubles, which will be fixed in the future.**

 **Forge Master 00: I am going to try to keep both sides in character and not have one pull a mary sue and complete conquer the other in two weeks. Don't want the Ad Mech turning into Ultrasmurfs, but don't want the White Fang to hack into their cogitators. I believe that the Ad Mech can be best described as cockroaches. No one can control them and you can never truly get rid of them all. Ability of Null?**

 **Guest: The Brothers may or may not be a thing in this story. It might come up in a latter chapter, but Ozpin still has the same powers from cannon. I want to include them somewhere in the story but they will not affect the story until Ozpin can explain how he has his powers.**

 **Votes:**

 **Automata [2]**

 **Men of Iron [0]**

 **Silica Animus [2]**

 **Feudal STC [2]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: By the metal messiah, it was been too long! Spring Break is coming up, and that will allow me to catch up on the new lore for Warhammer after the fall of Cadia. I heard something about Ad Mech getting a transport for their army, last time I check the Adeptus Custodies just got a new codex and there is an announcement for new model of someone important (I believe it was Abaddon). Also some old characters are brought back into the story all the way from Chapter Two.**

Chapter Six: Negotiations

Dominus Ira headed straight in the direction that Jaune Arc told her to go to reach Vale. If he was lying he would forfeit his life, hopefully the blonde valued his life more than the chance to endanger his enemy. The servitors stood being their master in a staggered formation, with the Plasma Cannon and Multi-Melta Servitors in front. The female tech-priest wanted to bring the servitors over the more skilled Skitarii for one reason. They are cannon fodder. If the discussion is a trap, the servitors will pin down the guards as she escaped. Eights did some modifications to the servitors equipping them with dead man switches, a perfect present for any seeking to tamper with their blessed augmentations. And for safety reasons the bombs have to be armed by a vocal command from the Dominus.

The journey was relatively quiet. The tech-priest listened in on the vox channel that Eighths was transmitting. At the end of the call she stated, -So it appear that the conquest of Atlas could wait to push back the Grimm menace. - Eventually the five cultist reached the walls of Vale. Two armed figures peered at the white robed figures from the ramparts. The first soldier commented to the other soldier, "Hey Alex, are those the cultist Steal Tree was complaining about?"

"Yeah Dane, they are from the same cult that murdered Hans, Zander, Julius, and Frank half a year ago," coldly answered the other soldier. He turned back to the citizens of Metalica before continuing, "Even if it goes against by personal judgement the General gave us orders. He said and I quote, 'If you see any figure in white robes with a bunch of scrap metal sticking out of it, direct them to Beacon.' I believe you match the description, so just follow us." The gates slowly opened as the two soldiers quickly left the ramparts. Dominus Ira made a mental note on the General's kind depiction of herself. The immaterium has no fury like a woman scorned.

Alex and Dane guided Dominus Ferrum and her servitor guard thru the streets of Vale heading to the nearest airship landing pad. No talk was exchanged between the two parties, but Ira could tell by how much they were gripping their rifles that the soldiers were not happy with the Adeptus Mechanicus. The citizens of Vale did exchange confused stares or glares with her servitors. A few abhumans species could be found scattered amongst the populous, but the rare case of one being thrown out of a store brought hope to the tech-priest's three hearts. She would have to ask the Headmaster about this problem for it will arise in the future.

The tension in the group defused when they reached the VTOL landing pad, which caused the tech-priest to stop in her tracks and stare at the machine from a distance. She could feel it's machine spirit, but it was young. Extremely young. It did not recognize her as a servant of the machine god, but it was more surprised that someone recognized it. When asked about gods the machine spirit laughed at the idea of a god being real, it even insulted her for believing in a machine god. Alex and Dane starred at the cultist as it tightened the grip it had on her two handed axe. She asked, "I assume that this VTOL craft was made in Atlas?" Both of the soldiers nodded before the dominus muttered to herself, -That explains the attitude.-

The flight to the military school was quiet, and it gave the tech-priest time to oversee the city. It was nothing compared to hive worlds, but that is to be expected of a feudal world. By the Iron Messiah, they did not even unify their weak and divided kingdoms into a singular political body. The number of Atlesian soldiers, and warships in Vale made her question if that fact will change in the future. The Dominus turned to Alex and asked, "Where is Vale's army?" The soldier scoffed at her question.

"Atlas is the only kingdom with a standing army of significant size. All Vale, Vacuo, and Mistral has are their huntsmen. Even then there is not enough to protect their borders from the Grimm. That is why the army of Atlas is the sole organized protector of humanity," answered the man with disdain and pride for his home kingdom clear in his statement. Sole organized protector of humanity, sound like these huntsmen are similar to arbites, inquisitors, or assassins in the Imperium. Low in numbers and used for tasks that larger forces can't handle. Or maybe she is giving them too much credit.

The bullhead eventually landed on the docks of Beacon Academy, Ozpin watched from his office thru the hidden cameras as the Dominus Ferrum walked thru the halls of his school. Following close behind her was the so called personal guard. Two of them had giant weapons replacing their right shoulder while the others had a giant metal claw similar to the still unnamed figure from the first security in Emerald Forest. Students actively moved out of their way as the two soldiers lead them to his office. The amount of armor that each one of them was wearing was ridiculous, you could not see any skin on the Dominus and strange heavy weapons hung from her armored breastplate. It must have been extremely heavy for it messed up her posture, forcing her to bend over slightly. Similar to an old man with a cane. The headmaster quickly dismissed the thought of his posture turning into that in the near future.

After a long wait, Dominus Ferrum finally entered his office to see both the Headmaster, the General, and Professor Goodwitch standing behind the desk. Weirdly enough she choose to use the stairs and not the elevator. "You elevator has to low of a weight limit for any tech-priest to use it," explained Ira.

Ironwood glared at the female tech-priest before accusing her, "That has a weight limit of 500 pounds! How much do you weigh?" The strange cannons hanging at the side of the Dominus hummed to life as the moved to face the direction of the General.

"Didn't your mother tell you not to ask a woman their weight or insult them behind their back? I believe the phrasing was, 'a figure in white robes with a bunch of scrap metal sticking out of it.' Is my memory is correct _General_?" stated the slightly annoyed tech-priest. The tension in the room could be cut by a dull butter knife. Ozpin knew that this was going to be complicated, the situation required carefully phrasing. Before the old man could speak, a holographic map of Remnant appeared from his desk. That was strange, he did not remember pulling up any map. Ira explained, "The Adeptus Mechanicus does not know the borders of your kingdoms, could you point them out for me."

Ozpin pressed a few buttons on his scroll and the borders of every kingdom appeared on the map with their names. The tech-priest studied the map for a long moment before the map itself disappeared. The headmaster questioned, "Am I correct to assume that you hold a high position in the Adeptus Mechanicus?" The tech-priest stood still as the lights in her eyes dimmed down before shutting off. The subtle shifting of her metal appendages stopped, as her four bodyguards stood silently at the elevator door. After a long and silent wait, the light returned back to her eyes. The dominus silently stared at her body before noticing the three other people in the room.

She introduced herself, "Greetings, I am Magos Dominus Pugnus Rubrum. My consciousness is currently possessing the body of Dominus Ira Ferrum. I am the Senior Tech-Priest of the brigade of Legiones Skitarii that is currently waiting in orbit for deployment." This was an unexpected movement on her part…or was it him…questions for later. He stated that there are more of his soldiers in orbit of Remnant. In orbit. That means he claims to be not from this world, his appearance and accent does support this claim. But then again this can all be a facade to throw the headmaster off balance mentally.

Ozpin challenged her/his claim, "Prove it. There is no way you can achieve orbit by using Dust." The senior tech-priest gestured to the window behind the headmaster, to which everyone in the room directed their sight. Their gaze was only meet with the shattered moon, then Pugnus emitted a burst of static from his mask. To everyone's surprise, the smaller remains of the moon started to break apart as if something was hitting them.

The Magos Dominus broke the silence with a threat, "That would be results of the _Astral Knight_ , my flag ship, unleashing a salvo into the moon that orbits this planet. The same result can happen to hostile targets on the surface." Ozpin turned around in his chair to face Pugnus again, he currently had his weapons lowered and his axe was held perpendicular to the ground. The grip on the two handed axe as lesser tightened than before, so at least that was an improvement. It took a second for the general to turn away from the window to join the negotiations again. The senior tech-priest gestured to Ironwood, "I can assume that you did not came here to see the power of the Adeptus Mechanicus. What do you want?"

Ozpin quickly cut off Ironwood before he could speak, "We only want this pointless aggression between us, especially when there are larger threats. For example the Grimm, which I imagine that team JNPR told you about." Pugnus nodded at the headmaster's assumption, know Ozpin knew from the call with Ren that tech-priest Ira was not present for the talk about the Grimm. That means that either he is lying, or that he was listening to the conversation in a same manner as himself. The white robed cultist turned to face the General.

"I can agree to a cease-fire, on one conditions. One, any attempts to harm, steal, or destroy Adeptus Mechanicus property or equipment will result in the nullification of the treaty. I will also follow by the same rule as well," proposed Pugnus as he extended his robotic right hand forward. Ironwood reached out with his metal left hand to meet him. The Magos Dominus turned to face Ozpin as he continued, "Now that the deal with Atlas is done, we need a deal with Vale. You give me the right to move my forces into the city of Vale and in exchange we will help defend against the Grimm."

Ozpin folded his fingers together as pondered the idea. "How about your forces will take rest in Beacon, and you can help train with the students to form them into better huntsmen," countered the old man. Static can from Pugnus' mask as he turned around towards his guards. The four guards started to file out of the room with their leader slowly following them.

The tech-priest commented, "Pugnus tells me that team JNPR will arrive at Beacon in a hour with an armed escort of Adeptus Mechanicus forces. Arrangements for lessons can be made tomorrow." The door to the stairs slammed shut behind the Dominus. Glynda let out a sigh as Ironwood started to head for the elevator. The hold conversation was not confusing for the headmaster, a more fit term to describe it would be different or unique. Everything that Pugnus proposed for the deals have loopholes that can be abused for his benefit, Ozpin will make sure to catch him if he does.

Professor Goodwitch commented, "Did you notice on how his 'bodyguards' did not move at all? They did not even show any signs of breathing! And also he ordered them to file out without saying a word?" Ozpin quickly pulled up the camera feed of the Dominus' current position, Glynda's assessment was somewhat correct. The four bodyguards did not move or react in any manner to the multiple students giving them weird glances, either they were extremely disciplined or something worse happened to them. A lucky event happened to test this theory when a special student bumped into them while she was reading a book.

Ira Ferrum stared at the juvenile female that fell to the ground after walking into a servitor, the first thing that stood out for her was the fact that she was wearing a bow on the top of her head. How peculiar. The female, that the tech-priest assumed was a student, quickly picked up her book before giving the servitor a weird glance. Her eyes shifted onto the Dominus and the glare intensified. Ira could already tell that she was suspicious of strangers, which is a good trait for anyone to have. The student finally spoke, "That is a fine mask you are wearing there, where did you get it?" A mask, the Dominus did not recall wearing a mask.

"I am not wearing a mask," answered the tech-priest. She placed her free hand on her face, while the other held her Omnissian Axe upright. Ira corrected, "This is my face." The student's amber eyes widened in surprise, at both her statement and her monotone mechanical voice. The Dominus introduced herself, "I am Dominus Ira Ferrum, and you will refer to me as Dominus or Dominus Ferrum. I would talk to you feudals more, but duty awaits." The servitors started their silent march, forcing the student out of their way. After they marched out of her sight the student returned to her book and continued her meandering of the halls.

Ozpin noticed a few new pieces of information from the security camera. One, the bodyguards did not say anything or react to Blake walking into one of them. Two, the Dominus is not wearing armor but in fact the metal is a part of her. Making her a cyborg, the same is probably true for the other members of the Adeptus Mechanicus. During the discussion with Ren, Eights did call their troops Skitarii and not humans or Faunus. This probably means that they are not pure humans, or it was a word for a rank. With every new piece of information that the headmaster found to answer a question, ten more will take its place. But all he had to do now was to wait for their forces to arrive and then have Professor Goodwitch find where to put them.

True to their word, a large group of Adeptus Mechanicus forces arrived at the walls of Vale with team JNPR leading them with the tech-priest know as Eights. Professor Goodwitch estimated their numbers to be around sixty men in total, this included the expected number of people needed to crew each of their machines. The gates opened up and team JNPR strolled inside the city and started to head of the bullhead, while the large group of cyborg soldiers formed a perfect parade block. Their 'Skitarii' were in front in ranks of four, followed by the soldiers with tank tracks for feet in ranks of two. Their giant crawler was after that with the six robots with LMGs in ranks of two behind it. The 'Cybernetica Datasmith' marched alongside the six robots. The ten 'Skitarii' on the walkers acted at the rear guard in ranks of two, and at the apex of the parade block was the Enginseer.

A metallic voice called out to the professor, "I assume you are sent by the headmaster to lead us to his school. We will follow your lead, and there is no need for resting arrangements for we do not need it." That was both reassuring and concerning. On one hand she had less work to do, but on the other hand they found a way to no longer need food or sleep. Glynda turned around at followed team JNPR to the bullhead pads. A few hours ago Ozpin told the public and the council of Vale that he found a group of anti-Grimm fighters that will be staying at Beacon Academy. Which did cause a crowd to gather to see them, and the reporters flocked to the parade block like Grimm to negative emotions. She did notice that none of the soldiers, besides Eights and the Datasmith, responded to anything that the crowd or reports said to them. Whether it be questions or insults.

Both Eights and the Datasmith would always tell the reporters, "There will be a public message soon enough to answer your questions." or "I am not high enough rank to answer that question." It would appear that getting any information out of them would prove difficult in the future, but that will be left up for the crow to do. Once they reached the bullhead landing pad, they started with loading the larger machines into the cargo hold while some of the soldiers filled into the passenger area. The professor was stuck on the third bullhead with Eights and ten of the Skitarii. The entire ride was silent, but the Enginseer did take his time to inspect every corner of the ship with his mechanical eyes. Once they landed at Beacon, Glynda was greeted with the Skitarii, which were on the second bullhead, keeping the students away from their machines.

Dominus Ira spoke thru her vox to the crowd, "Disperse by free will or we will have to use force!" A few of the students did head the warning, but not all of them were bright. At the front of the crowd was a probably the youngest student in the crowd wearing a bright crimson hood. She was asking the Skitarii questions about their weapons and armor, it reminded her of a Graian Tech-Priest. But nonetheless, the female tech-priest was tired of their shit. The crowd was complete silenced when the Dominus fired five rounds from her macrostubber into the air. Lucky for her, most of the students disappeared and group of Skitarii Vanguard came to reinforce the defensive of the blessed Onager and Kastelans. Only a handful of students were left, team JNPR, the crimsoned hooded girl, the girl that ran into the servitors before, a girl dressed in pure white, and a blonde girl who was trying to restrain the crimson girl.

 **I know it is a cliffhanger again, but I did not upload during the weekend and wanted to get the chapter out as fast a possible without sacrificing quality.**


	9. Chapter 7

**Reviews:**

 **Ghostly: There is a full brigade detachment and a super heavy detachment of Ad Mech in orbit of Remnant, currently there is only a patrol detachment on the surface. Down below is the entire list. There are also the marine skitarii and other non-combat tech-priests on the four ships themselves, for example Magos Explorator Double Null. He is not in the story yet and will be consulted in the trial of Penny (Y'all are voting for what he says).**

 **-Six Units of Skitarii (Two on surface)**

 **-Six Units of Kataphrons (One on surface)**

 **-Two Units of Electro-Priests (None on surface)**

 **-Two Units of Infiltrators (None on surface)**

 **-Two Units of Ruststalkers (None on surface)**

 **-One Unit of Servitors (On surface)**

 **-Three Units of Dragoons (Two on surface)**

 **-Two Units of Ironstriders (None on surface)**

 **-Two Units of Kastelans (One on surface)**

 **-Three Onagers (One on surface)**

 **-Five Tech-Priests (Two on surface)**

 **-One Cybernetica Datasmith (On surface)**

 **-Six Imperial Knights (None on surface.)**

 **Forge Master 00: Thanks for the support! The machine spirit face judgement by the Omnissiah. Funny how you say if he was even 10,00 years old, similar to Belisarius Cawl's age, somewhere between 12,000-17,000 years old (Mostly likely on the higher side for he was already old during the great crusade).**

 **Kyralus: I chose a Forge World Graia Tech Priest to compare to Ruby mainly because of the similarity in color. The skitarii would only open fire if they were trying to harm the Onager, not inspect it like the students were doing.**

 **Guest: To be honest I going to tone down Ruby's gungasm to that she does not die from blood loss due to a giant nose bleed, and that she will not try to steal them. She might be grabby but she will not accidentally cause a war between Vale and the Ad Mech. A for the** _ **propositions**_ **of what to do with the Faunus, I will tell you a hint at one of the options. It sounds like** _ **Servitude Imperpituis**_ **.**

 **Votes for Trial of Penny:**

 **Automata [2]**

 **Men of Iron [0]** **(Nobody voted for it so it is gone)**

 **Silica Animus [2]**

 **Feudal STC [2]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: I was wondering if y'all want me to write non cannon holiday specials, they will basically be just for fun and laughs. I am using 6 wounds for the amount of aura of a student, I can't tell if that is too little or too much. For professional hunters it would be around 8 or 10 wounds.**

Chapter Seven: Dragon against Steel

 **Starts off where the cliffhanger ended.**

Professor Goodwitch quickly stepped between the students and the line of 'Skitarii'. The rest of team RWBY finally got their leader to calm down and stop asking questions. Eights joined by the side of the professor and started to have the Skitarii move back to the Onager. Ruby walked up to Eights and simply asked him, "Could you show me your weapons?" The Enginseer glanced to the other students who were shaking their head violently sideways and mouthing 'No'. Glynda could tell that he would be smirking if he still had a mouth.

"I would be glad to, but first we must introduce ourselves to each other. I am Enginseer-8873, but my friends call me Eights. I am one of the five Tech-Priest in the Adeptus Mechanicus brigade on this planet," introduced the tech-priest as he slowly walked between Ruby and her friends, slowly bringing her closer to the line of Skitarii. Yang and Weiss were attempting to burn his white robes with their glares while Blake's bow twitched as she listened in on the conversation.

Ruby returned the greeting, "Nice to meet you Eights. I am Ruby Rose, huntress in training at Beacon Academy. What exactly does a tech-priest do?" Eights let out a low mechanical chuckle as he wrapped his arm around the crimson teenager as he led her away from her team and up to the 'Skitarii' line. He made a grand gesture to the entire patrol of soldiers and engines of war.

He informed her with pride prudent in his speech, "This is my work child. As a tech-priest of the Enginseer specialty, it is my endless duty to conduct the maintenance and repair of the multitude of machine of the Adeptus Mechanicus! I have been assigned under Magos Dominus Pugnus Rubrum to make sure that none of his soldiers are damaged, in this group right here I am assigned on repairing the Kataphrons, Sydonian Dragoons, and the Onager. Also I have the ability to build more ammo or weapons in case any are damaged beyond repair." Ruby stared at awe at the robed cyborg as he explained his job. Her eyes were filled with innocent curiosity, comparable to that of a toddler.

Eights knew that the other students behind him hated him for his actions so far, but he couldn't care less. Staring up at him was the probably the first tech-priest that would come from this world, but she still had her flaws. One was that her friends would try to convince her out of it. But the second obvious problem was more pressing, her eyes. Those damn silver eyes were filled with hope, curiosity, innocence, and other traits that were lost to the mankind during their struggle amongst the stars. She seemed interested in only weapons so far, that cut down the possible options. Explorator, Artisans, Dominus, Enginseer, or Transmechanic were the first few options that came to the cogitators of Eights.

The line of Skitarii shifted to create a hole, allowing the robbed cultist to further lure the innocent student closer to the crawler. Yang started walking to bring here out, but the gap in the line was quickly shut. The tech-priest started explaining the creation in front of him as Yang tried to shove past the robed cultist, "This right here is an Onager Dunecrawler. It is of the Icarus Array variant, designed to clear hostiles out of the sky with ruthless efficiently. It bears a Daedalus Missile Launcher, a Gatling Rocket Launcher, a Twin Icarus Autocannon, and a Cognis Heavy Stubber for any hostile not in the sky. There are two, what you can call, 'crew men'. One driver and one gunner, they are both bound to this blessed machine out of their own free will."

"Hey! Let me thru! I need to speak with my sister!" yelled the blonde bombshell under the analytical explanation of the crawler with fancy word like 'Emanatus Force Field' and Broad Spectrum Data-Tether' that he explained. Ruby walker around the machine inspecting every inch of metal with her eyes. Her pure innocent eyes. Yang could not just stand quietly as this _creep_ talked to Ruby about some sort of god. She was only half listening to the conversation for most of her concentration was put into trying to get past these Skitareye, or whatever they were called.

"Yes Ruby, every machine has something called a machine spirit. It is the soul of the machine and can feel emotions like use humans, there is only one problem. Only tech-priest can communicate with the machines spirits, and you must be a follower of the Machine God to become a tech-priest," explained Eights as he answered another one of Ruby's questions. He noticed that the Sydonian Dragoons armed with Taser Lances begin to shift from their position turn towards where the Enginseer and Ruby came thru the line of Skitarii. He tilted his head a little bid to the side to see out of the corner of his ocular senses the blonde student attempting to shove past the phalanx of soldiers.

Glynda Goodwitch cautiously stood out of the coming confrontation, her hands were politically tied in this situation. If she sided with Eights than her students would hate her and the Adeptus Mechanicus could see it as a sign of being loyal to them. If she sided with Yang, which she wanted to do, then her students would not think different of her and the Adeptus Mechanicus could see it as a sign of hostility. Hostility would lead to a massacre of any unarmed student that they would find, and team RWBY left their weapons in their lockers while team JNPR had not the chance to change out of their combat gear. All the professor could do was to wait and hope for a peaceful solution. Her thoughts were answered when the line of soldiers parted to the robbed cultist and Ruby walking away from the crawler.

Eights commented, "I wish I could have answered more of your questions, but it appears that your friend here was getting…anxious." The Enginseer turned to see that the blonde's eyes were red, he does not remember them being that color before. A matter to find out latter.

Ruby smiled and nodded at the tech-priest statement, "Yeah, Yang can be like that sometimes…Well I want to learn more about that talking to machines ability. So then until next time!" Team JNPR and RWBY stated heading into the depths of Beacon Academy. Professor Goodwitch on the other hand started walking towards them with her eyebrows narrowed. Eights quickly looked around trying to find Dominus Ferrum to use as an escape goat, but she was nowhere to be found.

"You know that Miss Xiao Long as about to fight your soldiers because you were not letting her reach her half-sister," warned the professor as she gestured to the twenty Skitarii standing behind the Enginseer.

Eights quickly retorted, "For being a combat school, I am surprised you forgot to teach your students discipline. Sometimes they will not be together and worrying about the other will only distract them in the heat of battle, leading to one of them getting kill. But by their lack of discipline I can assume the headmaster see them as expendable pawns, that is why _we_ agree to help teach _your_ students." To be honest, the tech-priest was only speaking down upon the school to test the professor's resolve. By the fact that she was present during the meeting with Ira, she is probably the highest skilled professor in this school. If Professor Goodwitch cracks under his insults then these huntsmen at the school would act the same or worse, making them weaker than the Skitarii.

The professor took in a deep breath to calm down, Eights noticed that a few of the veins popping started to become hidden under the skin again. Once she was calmed down, she coldly ordered, "Gather the members of the Adeptus Mechanicus that will be teaching students and head up to Ozpin's office within the next hour." A burst of static escaped the Enginseer's speaker, causing Cyber and Ira to come and join him.

-What do you want to teach the students? - asked Eights to the two other tech-priests. They both gave him weird looks as if he was a mad man. He explained himself, -We are the only three Adepts here capable of teaching the students, and I will probably work in the forge if they have one.-

The female tech-priest quickly stated, -I will be the combat teacher, while Datasmith-1721 stays with the patrol detachment incase the students try anything. Don't want them touching the Kastelans do you?- Cyber could not argue with that statement. If Eights remembered correctly, the Cybernetica Datasmith did challenge Enginseer-0352 _'Precision'_ to a duel to the death for touching the _Grim Shepherds_. Thankfully Magos Dominus Pugnus quickly broke up the fight before it started. The Dominus started walking to the entrance to the school, forcing the Enginseer to run a little bit to catch up.

Cyber quickly got to work moving his forces to a more defensible position. Their current location was too close to where the VTOLs dock. The datasmith found a location on the wall without any windows above it. That was the perfect position! They only had to protect the Onager from one direction instead of multiple, and they only had twenty Skitarii in total. In the center of the formation was the Icarus Array Onager, then the Kastelans surrounded it. Protecting the automata were the Battle Servitors (Kataphrons and Servitors), then came the outer ring of Skitarii of both variants. The Sydonian Dragoons acted as the early screen and patrolled outside the line of Skitarii. The only thing that would make this position better is if he built trenches, but this property was owned by Beacon Academy. And to be honest, Eights pissed them off enough and Cyber does not need to help in that matter.

The two tech-priest walked silently thru the school, the school populous knew about them know due to the near massacre at the landing pads. Most of the students wisely avoided them because of this. The exception to that case happened when a female student with mint green hair approached them. She greeted them in a friendly voice, "Hello, I do not recognize you. Are you new here?" Enginseer Eights took one glance at the girl and say traits that he saw on the Forge World Metalica while he was still a Menial. The traits of a thief, he had lived around them for his entire life and any that were caught were sentenced to Servitude Imperpituis. Out of the four servitors that they brought to the surface, three of them were peasant crooks.

Dominus Ferrum stared at the student, there was no reason they should be talking. It also appears that the students are already a good portion into the school year, there should be no new students. Unless she was just attempting at small talk. The other tech-priest whispered to her, -She reminds me of the thieves I meet while a Menial.- Ira could not remember her childhood as well as the other tech-priest so she had no experience in the matter. The Dominus choose to not say anything and just keep on walking to the headmaster's office.

Emerald watched the two tech-priest silently as they stared at her. It was a little bit awkward, but it got even weirder when a burst of static came from the robed figure with the giant metal claw. The other person stated in a monotone voice, "We have pressing matters to attend to child." Then they both started walking away, she couldn't help but to furrow her brow at their antics. They both say they have important business to do, but they spend a minute just staring at her. Bunch of hypocrites, similar to some government officials. Also the way that person said 'child' creeped her out a bit, most people would call her huntress in training or miss. Nobody called another person child unless there was a giant age gap between the two people, or they were ridiculing them. But the robed figure did not appear that old, and its voice was monotone presenting no emotions.

Eventually both the tech-priests reach Ozpin's office after the long trek up the stairs. "You know we have an elevator for a reason," commented the headmaster. Eights pondered on the proper way to phrase the explanation.

"Well you see headmaster, there is a high chance that we exceed the weight limit for your feudal elevator," stated the Enginseer as he double checked his equations with his cogitators. Both of the two humans in the room gave the male tech-priest a weird look.

Ozpin reasoned, "Our elevators weight limit is 2,000 pounds, are you sure that you are not overestimating your weight?" Dominus Ferrum stepped forward while chuckling.

"Didn't your parents tell you to never ask a women their weight?" retorted the female tech-priest as she stepped up to the desk, opposite to Ozpin. She continued, "I will be the combat teacher while Eights will teach students in the forge. I did pass by one while on our way to your office, I assume you hold classes in there?" Professor Goodwitch pressed a few button on her scroll before look up to the Dominus.

"Since I am the combat teacher you will be coming along with me as I explain the rule in my class, while Eights will head to the forge to help any students that enter," explained Glynda as she walked past them and stepped into the elevator. Eights left for the stairs and the professor gestured for the female tech-priest to enter the elevator with her. She reluctantly agreed and stepped into the death trap, Professor Goodwitch pressed the button to be greeted by a warning. _'Over Maximum Weight Capacity.'_ Dominus Ferrum cursed the offending machine spirit as she exited the elevator and headed for the stairwell. Now there were two machine spirits that were on Ira's list to _educate_.

After a humiliating wait, Dominus Ferrum exited the door to the stairwell to join with Professor Goodwitch. Glynda decided to start the conversation, "Since you will be working as a part time combat assistance, I need to know what weapons you have and what they can do." The giant gun on her left side raised, and a hummed was emitted from the coils of the weapon.

Ira explained, "This is the Eradication Ray, it will not be used in the combat class. That will leave me with my Macrostubber, which is simpler to your feudal pistols, and my Omnissian Axe. I can assume my axe does not need a description. Then I have methods of protection, a Refractor Field and Masterwork Bionics. I know my limits and I would be able to handle one of your students in a fight." Glynda was typing away on her scroll all the information the tech-priest was giving her. The Dominus knew she was recording the information, but it was not she was telling them how to replicate it.

Both the Professor and Dominus entered into the combat class room. The students started to whisper to each other, until Professor Goodwitch silenced them, "This person here is Tech-Priest Dominus Ira Ferrum of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They have agree to allow them to stay at Beacon Academy in exchange for them to help teaching. She officials starts, and is qualified for her position. We will continue the rest of class as normal as she observes your skills."

The blonde bombshell of Beacon stood up and yelled, "I will fight her!" Before Glynda could tell her to stand down, the tech-priest stepped into the ring and gestured for Yang to join her. The student quickly ran to the locker rooms to prepare for the fight.

Professor Goodwitch reasoned, "You know you do not have to fight the students to prove anything." Ira laughed as she turned to face Glynda.

"I do not need to prove anything. I am teaching them their place in the chain of power," ominously stated the tech-priest. Yang stepped out of the locker as Dominus Ferrum removed her Eradication Ray and handed it safely to Professor Goodwitch as she displayed their auras' on the screen. Except that the tech-priest aura meter was glitching out. Before anyone could ask the Dominus stated, "We fight till the other is unconscious or surrenders!" Yang gave a curt nod in reply as she loaded her gauntlets with shotgun shells.

The bell rung and the two combatants charged the other, each letting out their own war cry. Yang's was a normal yell while a loud burst of static came from Ira. The blonde launched a haymaker at the tech-priest which was blocked by the shaft of the Omnissian Axe. The Dominus quickly pushed back on the punch throwing Yang off balance before launching a powerful overhead strike which the student easily dodged. The blonde then attempted to pepper the robed cultist with her shotgun shells, but most of the bullets bounded off of her armor. A shimmer of blue surrounded the tech-priest to protect any shells that went thru her armor, similar to aura.

The robes on Ira shifted a fraction as a barrel of a hidden gun protruded for the folds and empty a shower of bullets into the surprised blonde. A huge chunk of aura was removed, almost sending Yang into the yellow. She remarked, "That was a cheap move." The Dominus scoffed at her statement.

"It the field it does not matter how you fight. It only matter if you win!" yelled the tech-priest for all to hear as she charged the student. In melee Yang was better than Ira, but her bionics could self-repair faster than she could hurt her. Similar to the Imperial Guard in every combat situation, this was a battle of attrition. Whoever grows tired first would lose, and the flesh is weak. After a long minute of fists against axe, the Dominus swept the blonde off of her feet when she overextended herself. Ira hefted her axe above her head and swung down at the student's head yelling, "DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF THE OMNISSIAH!"

Yang rolled away, but Ira predicted this and had her macrostubber firing where she would move to. A bright flare of yellow signaled that the student's aura broke. The tech-priest stopped firing and growled, "Yield." The blonde bombshell raised up her hands in defeat. Dominus Ferrum commented, "You rely on your strength and endurance too much. My weapons have a far reach, if you would have gotten closer I would not have been able to strike you effectively with my axe leaving me with a weak pistol. Know your enemies weakness and exploit it in combat."

Yang walked back to the locker room as Dominus Ferrum retrieved her Eradication Ray. She was not surprised that she had won the fight. One, she has around 70 years of battle experience while Yang was only a teenager. Two, if anything could get past the refractor field her masterwork bionics would repair the damage. The only thing that was lost in the battle was a little bit of macrostubber ammo, which Eights could easily make.

 **Afterword: Did you really expect Yang to win the fight? She does have her semblance and aura enhanced speed and strength, but the Dominus had augmentations to every function to her body. And Ira Ferrum outclassed Yang in the ability to adapt to the enemies weakness to get the advantage. I also kept the fight short because it would have been just a bunch of dodging and block as the tech-priest waited to tire out Yang and find weaknesses.**


	10. Chapter 8

**Reviews:**

 **Guest: I only made it a short fight because I did not want to waste a paragraph of nothing happening besides dodging, blocking, and attacks bouncing off Ira's armor.**

 **ImaginativeFury: Have to set the two types of speak different somehow and I am saving all Italics and all Bold for something else. Also the idea of stating that they are speaking in Lingua-Technis would become repetitive and boring. I could use something different out, but I will not be using "" for Lingua-Technis. Do not like it, read something else. I notice that you wrote this on Chapter Three (The Fourth Post), which was written before I made a new paragraph anytime someone spoke. It can be confusing there but that is only a small section of the overall story, and was fixed in Chapter Six (The Eight Post). Also I would be willing to change from the dash to either '=Speech=', '+Speech+', '++Speech++', '~Speech~', or 'Speech'.**

 **Votes for Trial of Penny:**

 **Automata [2]**

 **Silica Animus [4]**

 **Feudal STC [2]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: I realized that the chapter titles and chapter titles in the jump menu are messed up because of the two polls, it is going to be confusing if I try to talk about latter chapters, but if I do it will be in this format: Chapter Title (Jump Menu Title). For example this chapter is Chapter Eight (10). Also, I could not find any forge in Beacon Academy in cannon. Either I am blind or it does not exist.**

Chapter Eight: Official First Contact

Enginseer Eights wandered thru the halls of Beacon Academy looking for the forge that Dominus Ferrum say on her way here. With the benefit of hindsight, he should have asked for directions before leaving the office. Ira said she saw the forge, but he was too focused on planning inducting people into the Cult Mechanicus. If a few of the natives join the faith then integration into the Adeptus Mechanicus will be smooth and cost less resources. And efficiency is key.

As he took his time to inspect the school itself, he noticed a few thing. Students, on average, travel in groups of four to two. None of the students are armed, and all wear a school uniform. But his cogitators recall that team JNPR did not wear any set uniform in combat. For the school itself, it designs reminded him of a mixture of Eldar and Imperial architecture. The idea of mixing anything xenos and man increased bile production in his organs. He neared another door to a room and gently placed his hand on the doorknob, checking if it is a lecture hall. Last time he did not was awkward, he barely escaped the green haired recaff addicted teacher. The door swung open from the other side and slammed into his faceplate.

He turned to see the bow wearing student from the landing pads exiting what appeared to be a library, there were students in there holding card around a board with plastic figures on it which made him question the purpose of the room. The bow wearing student appeared slightly annoyed and deep in thought. Before she could say anything the Enginseer interrupted her, "Do you know where the forge is?"

"It is on the other side of the school on the lower levels," she answered before walking down the hallway from where he came. The information was helpful but lacking at the same time, similar to having a front line of conscript guardsmen. Eights sighed before returning to his wonderings thru the school.

Dominus Ferrum stood behind the professor as she watched the students spare each other. Four classes have already passed and she started to notice a few thing, in particular _Auras_ and _Semblances_. She recorded every fight to be review in the future, to create a database of every student here and to learn more about their technology. She made a note on the files before sending them to the Magos Dominus, 'Unlike Forge World Stygies VIII, we will find flaws in their technology to exploit in the future.' The tech-priest had to be sure she would not be labeled a heretek for proposing studying xenos technology in depth, the inquisition hates the Adeptus Mechanicus enough.

The dominus stated thru her vox, -Eights, how is it going finding the forge?-

A quick replied answered her question, -I am on the opposite side of the school from it, at least that is what one of the students told me. But there is no truth in flesh, only betrayal. - She sure hoped he found the forge soon, for her internal clocks suggested that it was approaching dusk. But then the idea of auras surfaced again from her cogitators. If it is not heresy, the soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus can be imbued with it making them thrice as strong and resilient. She noticed that the students have no armor and use aura to compensate for it, but what if you combined the two. If any attack went thru the armor then the aura could act as a second layer of defense. But this is only possible if it is not heresy.

The female tech-priest stood silently in thought as she waited for the class to be over. Meanwhile on the other side of the school, Eights had finally found the forge. He celebrated longer than he would be willing to admit. Unfortunately for him, it was time to regroup back at Cyber's position for resupply and recuperation. On the positive, he now has a large portion of Beacon Academy mapped out in his cogitators. He did notice some flaws in the school's defensives, specifically that there aren't any beside the geological location of the school. The cliff stopped invasions from anything that can't climb mountains. But avian Grimm and VTOL craft remove that advantage.

Unknown to most members of the Imperium of Man, tech-priest do actually sleep. But this is all depending on your definition of sleeping. A better word to describe it would be recharging. The same problem occurs when eating is brought up in a conversation. They can eat but they do not require food as often as humans, similar to members of the Adeptus Astartes with their food paste. But their free time in the place of eating is used in cleaning and blessing their augmentations. Routinely the ritual takes place to pacify the machine spirits, lengths in between rituals vary depending if they are in a war zone or heading to a war zone.

Ozpin watched silently as the soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus held their position outside of his school without stopping to rest. The warm cup of fresh coffee greeted his lips as he took a drawn out sip. The only audio the camera picked up was static coming from the group as a whole. The idea that is was audio malfunction was ebbing away. They are from space and probably have their own language, but since most of them were machines it might be a machine language they can easily copy. Then he can finally find out what they are saying, more work for Qrow to do latter. He did have some experience with programming languages when he investigated a skirmish, between Atlas and what was recently discovered as the Adeptus Mechanicus, two months ago. He came back with a bunch of random words and numbers.

The Magos Dominus overlooked the map of the planet below him in the Noosphere, the bordered were drawn out on the map with the four major cities labeled. He attached the partial layout of Beacon Academy and the videos of the student fighting into the Vale file. The recordings of the deals and every conversation with important figurehead were saved into the Important Conversations File, while the remaining recorded conversations were saved to the Common Conversations File. Enginseer Precision began working on personal files for every person that they meet, so far he had twenty two profiles.

A few profiles interested Pugnus the most, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, the bow wearing student, the mint hair student, and Pyrrha Nikos. All of them for different reasons, potential recruit, changing eye color, twitch bow, strange attitude toward the tech-priests, and whispering 'My semblance is not working on the cultist or weapons'. He set the profiles in varying importance from highest to lowest, Pyrrha, Ruby, Yang, Bow Girl, and Mint Hair. The Magos Dominus would prefer to remove the last to files, but the two tech-priests on the surface specifically requested them to be looked into.

General Ironwood sat in his Atlesian Battleship as he pondered his situation. The deal made earlier in the day played thru his head over and over again. _'I can agree to a cease-fire, on one conditions. One, any attempts to harm, steal, or destroy Adeptus Mechanicus property or equipment will result in the nullification of the treaty. I will also follow by the same rule as well'_. They agreed to a cease-fire, there is a large difference between that and a non-aggression pact. Then he said _'I will also follow by the same rule'_ , the General noticed how he said 'I' and not the 'Adeptus Mechanicus'. He left it ambiguous to keep a loophole open in the deal.

It made Ironwood unsettled, he was not scared but anxious instead. They were planning to strike Atlas and he knew it. But if he starts aggressions, the other Kingdoms might not support him and Pugnus could use it as reasoning to orbital bombard Atlas. The General checked the rules of war, and it does break it but the Adeptus Mechanicus did not sign it or officially recognize it. That means that they do not have to spare civilians. Ironwood planned to bring it up to Ozpin tomorrow, right now he needed some sleep.

The sun slowly rose into the sky from over the horizon, rays of light touched upon the white robes of the patrol detachment of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their patrols lasted throughout the night, never ceasing and never slowing. From their past battles, they have developed a doctrine of slow moving armies that last long in attrition then the xenos or heretics. But this lost colony has different tactics, they have a doctrine of small fast moving armies that serve multiple purposes. It intrigued the Magos Dominus, but it will not change the fate of the planet. They will come into the fold of the Imperium as a forge world or a death world. Today will decide that, for the news reporters found out about the patrol stationed at Beacon Academy. He would be joining with them quickly incase anything happened. His internal clock told him that it was 8 a.m.

Ozpin got a call on his scroll form an unknown number, he personally had nothing better to do than send his pawns orders or watch what the students are doing. He answered the call to be greeted by a metallic voice, "It is nice to talk to you again Ozpin, this is Magos Dominus Pugnus Rubrum of Forge World Metalica. I have received word that the news reports in Vale are growing more…brazen about trying to interview with the forces under Magos Ira Ferrum. I will be landing at Beacon Academy to give a speech, I hope you can prepare one as well. And make sure to tell the good general this as well, don't want him starting a war by shooting my VTOL down." The call abruptly ended and Ozpin spent a long moment staring at his scroll before contacting Ironwood to prepare a speech.

The Enginseer was too busy scanning the sky to realize a small group of students was watching them from afar. The VTOL with the Magos Dominus was scheduled to leave at 9 a.m. and to land around midday, and the current times was 11 a.m. with no signs of the airship in the sky. It was concerning if anything happened to him, it would leave Ira and Quin in charge of the brigade. Their inaptitude to agree on anything would result in infighting and war with the feudals. Ruining the efficiency of the plan that Pugnus probably has to take control of this planet. Eights was in the dark with the plans more than he would prefer, he suspected that the female tech-priest was more informed than he was.

Precision suspected her of being tainted by a demon or Khorne before, but Pugnus wrote it off as a want to purge the enemies of the Omnissiah. Eights and Quin decided to stay out of that problem in case the inquisition was called in, both did not want those flesh bags messing around with their work. During that time of staying away from the female dominus and the other Enginseer, both Quin and Eights became allies. The male dominus had an unsafe addiction to anything related to phosphex, and Eights was glad enough to supply him with it in exchange for information. During the entire crisis, Cyber stayed with his Kastelans like he always does.

Ozpin walked up to the tech-priest who was scanning the skies intently. "How much longer till he arrives?" questioned the headmaster. Eights jumped a little, which was a surprising feat from a tech-priest weighing around two thousand pounds. He glared at the person who broke his concentration with his servo-arm ready to slap them, but since it was the headmaster the metal limb retracted behind his back.

"The Magos Dominus will arrive between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., you should be preparing for the crowd of civilians that will flock to him," suggested the Enginseer as he gestured to the few group of students that were waiting around the landing pads. The headmaster was more worried about what Pugnus was planning for his speech, he himself already had a speech prepared and Ironwood was busy playing with his robots to give a speech to the press. Ozpin used a portion of his speech to state how he will seek to improve relations with the foreigners to safeguard the public, mostly out of concern of attracting Grimm to the city. He did plan for a threat at the cultist themselves if their speech included one.

Pugnus Rubrum stood in his Valkyrie as it descended into the planet's atmosphere. Being the oldest tech-priest in the brigade, at 231 years old, he was not surprised by anything. But he planned to toy around with this Headmaster Ozpin before forcing his influence upon him, for he wanted to laugh at when the hope drains from his eyes. Hope is a rare trait to find in the forty first millennium. The current date was 466.M41 in the imperial calendar, nothing surprising happened. There were a wars on strategic locations, but nothing exciting. But a lost human colony does really get his servos rotating. What he preferred about feudals is that they will usually bend the knee out of fear or fight to the last man in the ruins of their city. But you will never know until you make first contact.

Speaking of first contact, the Valkyrie landed and the back door lowered. The Magos Dominus walked down the ramp slowly, his eradication ray and phosphor serpenta swayed with every step. He noticed a few of the students at the school give him weird looks before holding up tablets of glass which created a flash, his cogitators guessed that they were taking pictures of him. That is one thing he hated about this lost colony, the right to free press and free speech. It allowed for heretical ideas to be easily spread amongst the populous, but he can also use this to his advantage. On the far side of the landing pads, Enginseer Eights was standing next to Headmaster Ozpin. Both arrived before he did which shows signs of caving in, which expected of the tech-priest but not of the flesh bag.

"It is pleasing to meet you while occupying my own body Headmaster," greeted the Magos Dominus as he approached the two. The headmaster was silent as he inspected Pugnus with his eyes. He appeared more metal then Ira Ferrum, both of his arms were completely metal and reinforced with what he could guess to be steel. The Magos Dominus' posture was even worse than the Dominus as well, maybe he is more machine than man. Questions for latter.

Ozpin replied, "It is also nice to see you as well, thou I am surprised that you brought no bodyguards."

"Is there a need to protect myself while at your school?" retorted Pugnus was his eradication ray started to hum to life. The headmaster's knuckles turned white while he squeezed the cane in his hand.

"There is no reason unless you create one," answered Ozpin.

The Magos Dominus countered, "Correlation versus causation. I cannot be blamed for Ironwood's animalistic instincts."

The headmaster commented, "One should always trust their guts when faced with the unknown."

"There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal," recited Pugnus from the Dogma of the Mechanicus.

"If that is true, then why are you trusting us?" questioned Ozpin. The eradication ray hummed to life again.

Pugnus threatened, "I do not want to waste the ammunition needed to conquer this planet. I can spend as much time as needed for the machine is immortal." Both parties were silent, then an idea popped into Ozpin's mind. What if the Magos Dominus was older than him? That would make him more experienced than him and the Queen. Maybe the chess game could end in this life.

Team RWBY were in the middle of Professor Port's class, they were all watching the clock till the bell rung. That was until an announcement came over the loudspeaker, "There is a case of first contact with people not from this planet. All classes will be paused as a live recording of the meeting is taken place in Vale." The lights dimmed and the students started whispering to each other. Then the video feed was projected over the white boards with sketching of Grimm. A cyborg covered in white robes, similar to the anti-Grimm mercenaries outside Beacon, stood on the pedestal.

He spoke thru his vox casters as he spread his arms out wide, "Greeting Feudals, I am Magos Dominus Pugnus Rubrum of the Adeptus Mechanicus located on Forge World Metalica. The Adeptus Mechanicus is allied with the Imperium of Man, an empire spanning across countless stars and planets fighting to take humanities' right place as ruler of the galaxy. It is common for planets to be cut off from the greater Imperium only to integrated back in the Emperor's holy fold. I am here to help bring this planet peacefully into the Adeptus Mechanicus. There are many things that we can provide that your kingdoms can not. Let this be known, the Adeptus Mechanicus will not protect you from the Grimm. Rather we will crush the xenos before they can attempt to attack mankind." His speech riled up a concoction of conflicting emotions within the crowd, and as the speech continued the emotions became more conflicted.

Blake noticed how he only said about mankind and nothing about the Faunus, it was greatly concerning. Ruby was distracted on the idea that they were from space. Weiss was intrigued about how Atlas' army would compare to theirs. Yang was worried that they might indoctrinate her sister into their cult. Once the speech ended the reporters starting asking questions.

A female reporter asked, "Mister Rubrum, you said that the Imperium of Man was fighting for their place in the galaxy. Who exactly are they fighting?"

"There are three main enemies of the Imperium. There are the Orks, which is a xenos race solely built for war. The very idea of peace is unknown to them. Next is the Eldar, they believe themselves superior to man and wish to put humanity under their influence. Lastly is Chaos. They are demons that come from the immaterium that wish to corrupt all organisms to please their twisted gods," explained Pugnus.

"What are your views on Faunus?" asked one of the few xenos reporters. Blake perked up at the question.

The Magos Dominus carefully explained, "I have never meet a Faunus, but by how you asked the question I can assume you are one of them. There exist a race of abhumans called the Felinids in the Imperium of Man, they fight alongside the Astra Militarum. The Faunus strain appears closer to the human strain then the Felinid strain. Both species can live peacefully together as long as no Faunus view themselves as superior to mankind." While he personally would want to exterminate the abhumans, he wanted the public's support as he slowly influenced them to agree with him. Once they past the point of no return, then he can properly _deal_ with the xenos.

"Do you have enough firepower to destroy the Grimm?" questioned a third reporter.

Pugnus cryptically stated, "I have more than enough." Orbital bombardments could be used on any high concentration of the xenos, but the only problem is that the populous might not like him destroying the planet's landscape. If they protest against that, he has six titans on standby on the _Astral Knight_. He would conquer this planet even it is the last thing he does. He walked away from the podium while remarking, "No more questions at this time." The headmaster of Beacon stepped up to the podium and gave his own speech, Pugnus does not really care for it because Precision would analyze it for him latter. There were also more pressing matters at hand, he had to organize the second wave of reinforcement to land with in 24 hours.


	11. Chapter 9

**Reviews:**

 **Artyom-Dreizehn: Thanks for the information about the fleet, I have a plan for them to be used in a battle in the future of the story. That sadly means no military parades with the cruiser or light cruisers.**

 **Guest (the first one): I would not go with the eradication ray and replace it with Volkite Blaster, it is built for range like a sniper rifle. Or maybe go unorthodox and have a built in Transuranic Arquebus, the sniper rifle for the Skitarii with a range of 60". But thanks for the idea which I will probably incorporate into the story in the future.**

 **Guest (the second one): Glad to see that you show emotion while reading this. The blessed augmentations can fix that when it becomes a problem.**

 **Forge Master 00: An Inquisitor on Remnant would only lead to an Exterminatus, which is why the tech-priest don't want to give one of them a reason to enter the system. That forces the tech-priest to be careful with the planet's tech. If they were from Stygies VIII, they would send caution to the wind. Lingua-Technis is a mixture of static bursts and ancient phrases that makes it impossible to translate, but Ozpin does not know this and will try nonetheless. I know talking about Chaos summons it, Pugnus will not explain more about the four gods to the citizens of Remnant. He only mentioned Chaos to tempt to drag any hidden Chaos Cults on the planet into the blessed purging light of the Omnissiah. Thanks for the review!**

 **Agent48: I do not remember much about the brothers in RWBY, if they come back in cannon then the bloodbath would happen. Otherwise they might be forgotten to the endless sands of time. Then they will join the other Eldar gods in the warp.**

 **Votes for Trial of Penny:**

 **Automata [2]**

 **Silica Animus [4]**

 **Feudal STC [2]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: I will try to incorporate every review into the story, I already have a plan for the second race from the WH40k universe that will show itself on Remnant. So no suggesting sending Traitor Space Marines to the planet. I also found out that Domina is the female version of Dominus, it is too small of a detail to start changing the names this far into the story. I have a college visit coming up, the next chapter will be late. I realize chapter five was the last major fight scene with the Ad Mech, but there will be another skirmish in the next chapter or the one after it. Your bloodthirst will be satisfied.**

Chapter Nine: A Major Hiccup

Headmaster Ozpin, General Ironwood, and Magos Dominus Pugnus stood around the table in the headmaster's office. The city of Vale was projected onto the table with Atlesian forces marked on the map. A metal mechadendrite inserted itself into the projector, showing a list of available Adeptus Mechanicus Forces in the top right corner. The tech-priest explained what the symbols mean, "The second wave of my forces will reinforce the city. Four squads of Skitarii will hold the walls, with support of two squads of Kataphrons. The three squads of Dragoons and the squad of Ironstriders will act as a fast reactionary force to relieve stress on the front line. The two units of Kastelans and the two Onagers will form the counter attack when the enemies' charge breaks against the wall of metal. The squad of Ruststalkers and the squad Infiltrators will serve a different purpose."

The headmaster glared at Pugnus before remarking, "You speak and plan as if we are at war." A deep and scratchy sound emitted from the tech-priest's vox.

"You believe in the false concept of peace, headmaster. I have been forged in war for the past 231 years, and that is the most idiotic statement I have heard. Do your eyes need to be augmented with machines for you to realize you are at war with the Grimm and this White Fang 'organization'?" retorted the Magos Dominus. General Ironwood was all for military action, but the robed cultists was pushing its limits. Ozpin was more concerned on the fact that no one, which he knew of, informed any members of the Adeptus Mechanicus about the White Fang.

The headmaster reasoned, "When you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first: the flag bearer, or the scouts?" Pugnus' chuckles broke the silence.

"Your dear friend Ironwood shot down our scouts a year ago. Dominus Ira and her patrol detachment acted as our flag bearers. After the forward elements are sent out the army follows. War calls Ozpin, where is your army?" countered the tech-priest.

Ozpin spoke thru his gritted teeth, "There is no need for an army in a time of peace. I do not handle the army of Vale, for I am the headmaster of the Huntsmen Academy."

The Magos Dominus pushed his assault, "Then the Council of Vale has left the children to defend the capital while the men stay at home. Ironic isn't it? They have an old man leading a bunch of child soldiers to protect able body men against the Grimm." The headmaster was on the verge of snapping his cane in half while trying to beat the tech-priest to death with it. Pugnus waved his hand across the map causing the projection to cease. "I have had enough fun toying with your ethics and morals today Ozpin, now onto more serious matters," remarked the cultist as the map of Remnant appears from the projector.

Pugnus continues talking, ignoring the flesh bags surprised faces, "My fleet is doing an orbital scan for high populations of humans and Faunus. I will match these results with every population center under the control of the four kingdoms. Any outliers are either undocumented villages or White Fang Camps. My forces will respond within the next three days to these… _discrepancies_ to… _solve_ them."

"What do you plan to do to the White Fang captives? The treaties after the Great War state that you cannot kill them." tested the General. He wanted to see his reaction to his ethics being questioned.

The Magos Dominus casually waved his hand to dismiss the question as he remarked, "What captives?" Ironwood took his turn to glare at the tech-priest. Pugnus continued, "The Adeptus Mechanicus has not signed or recognize any treaties signed on this planet before first contact. Therefore we are not bound by the same rules or war. While we will not sign or recognize any of your treaties, we will follow by a _few_ of the rules."

Ozpin entered the conversation again, "You said there would be four squads of Skitarii, I only count two camping on my school grounds."

"The second wave of reinforcements will be arriving today. As a matter of fact, they will be here before night fall," explained Pugnus as he turned to head out. He continued once he reached the door, "I have many projects to look into before they arrive, and I believe there is a presentation in Vale that Ironwood has to attend in an hour. Good luck, I will make sure not to interrupt that when I lead a marching column thru Vale to Beacon Academy."

Dominus Ira Ferrum noticed that two students from the school were climbing a tree close to their position. One of the students appeared to be a carrier of the local abhuman strain, sine the long yellow tail he had. While the other student had an unnatural hair color of blue. The tech-priest noticed how natives of this world have unnatural hair colors, similar how natives of Cadia can have purple eyes. She sent the servo skull, which she was ordered to keep hidden by the Magos Dominus, to listen in on the two students' conversation. The tech-priest as about to connect her vox to the servo skull until the hyperactive green haired teacher, which Eights told her about, started to approach them. Ira quickly ran behind the lines of Skitarii, leaving the Enginseer to talk with the teacher.

The green haired menace caught Eights by surprise. And the teacher re-introduced himself, "It is nice to meet you again, I am Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck of Beacon Academy. I would like to find out more about your culture and history." Oh how much he would give to have a Tech-Priest Logis here to unleash the green demon upon.

Eights sighed before answering, "I have only lived for 125 years, so I am not the most experienced tech-priest here."

"125 years?! What is the average lifespan of a tech-priest?" questions the Doctor.

Eights answered, "The oldest known tech-priest is Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl the Prime Conduit of the Omnissiah of Holy Forge World Mars the Red Planet. His age is unknown, but he was there to experience the birth of the Imperium of Man 10,000 years ago."

Oobleck asked, "He is over 10,000 years old! Why that is longer than the entire documented history of Remnant! Who is the oldest tech-priest here? How can one achieve to live to such an age?"

"By the blessing of the Omnissiah thru the most holy of machine augmentations. But they only can be given to members of the Adeptus Mechanicus, which is always willing to accept anyone who wants to join the Quest for Knowledge," coerced the Enginseer. He might have another candidate for the first tech-priest from this planet.

The teacher's eyes widened, "What is the Quest for Knowledge?"

Eights started to walk toward the docks with the Doctor in tow as he explained, "The current year in our calendar 466.M41. That stands for 41,466 years after the start date of our calendar. 26,000 years ago, mankind first reached the stars from their home world Terra. Their empire stretched across the stars. 16,000 years ago, the xenos turned against the human empire. Causing many of the worlds to lose contact with Terra and many Standard Template Constructs, you feudals call them blueprints, to be lost. Over the next 5,000 years more information and planets were lost. That was until the God Emperor of Mankind revealed himself on Holy Terra. He was the divine human incarnation of the Omnissiah. He led the armies of the newly formed Imperium of Man across the galaxy bringing every lost colony into his fold. The Adeptus Mechanicus, back then it was called the Mechanicum, became a vassal state of the Imperium of Man to find every lost Standard Template Construct across the galaxy. That my good friend is the Quest of Knowledge. We seek to find all lost information, we know it exist and we know it is scattered across the galaxy and we know that the enemies of man hide it from us. Some Standard Template Constructs tell you how to build a toaster, while others can tell you how to create a weapon that destroy planets with a single round. These Standard Template Constructs are the key to figuring out the lost history of the Imperium of Man. What I have told you so far is the bare basics of the founding of the Imperium of Man. Come comrade, the day is young and there is so much more to talk about!"

Dominus Ira watched as the green haired demon and Eights walk to the docks, their conversation would end in an hour or two. By the Omnissiah, if they are talking about the history of the Imperium it would take at least three hours for the basics. Dominus Quin Decium would be on the surface before their conversation ended. But she had more important tasks to attend as the servo skull floated by her side. Most servo skulls could hear conversations from long distances if they focused on it, but she could not keep it in the Onager and have it listen to the conversation at the same time. The basics of the conversation was that the six students were planning to _'get back'_ at a person named Torchwick. Thanks to the Magos Dominus implanting some code into one of the school owned scrolls they were able to find out a lot of information to keep all the tech-priest Logis up in orbit busy for days.

Roman Torchwick, a known criminal mastermind across Remnant. Recently he was been seen on many crime scenes involving dust robberies, most of them occurring after the sun has set. The three squads of Dragoons and squad of Ironstriders will be prepared to intercept him. In the meantime she should send Skitarii Rangers to follow the six students, three pairs of two should work. They will be send out under the allusion of learning the life and culture of the locals to better integrate this planet into the Imperium smoother. If the Adeptus Mechanicus can catch a wanted criminal that the local police and military have failed to catch then their support amongst the populous would increase and they will be feared by criminals.

Ozpin sat in his office alone with his thoughts and cold coffee mug, the General left shortly after the Magos Dominus exited thru the stairwell. He watched the cameras as team RWBY and two members of team SSSN plan to stop Roman Torchwick. Outside their dorm Dominus Ferrum and a floating skull with augmentations over watched their conversation from a distance and Enginseer Eights and Doctor Oobleck had a deep discussion about their cultures and history. Things are shaping up to be a groundbreaking year. The headmaster was curious at what Ira planned to do with her new found information, his questions were answered when six Skitarii entered the same bullhead as team RWBY and half of team SSSN that was heading for Vale.

Blake noticed that six of the soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus joined on their bullhead. She sent a text to the rest of her team to be wary about them. Once she put away her scroll, she could see two of the six soldiers staring at her while their rifles sat ready in their arms, barrels pointed at the ground. Once the bullhead landing the six soldiers grouped together once they exited and started talking to each other in a unknown language. One of the soldiers pointed down the street while another gestured down a different street, they appeared to be arguing over direction. Appeared. Once team RWBY, Sun, and Neptune separated into three up they unsurprisingly found out where they are going and split up into three groups of two. Blake sent another text to her teammates saying that the soldiers were following them.

Weiss and Ruby approached a massive tower that loomed over the few trees that line the crossroads. The crimson teen commented, "Wow! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!"

The Ice Queen remarked, "You should see the one in Atlas!"

"That was the _first_ one right?" questioned Ruby. To which Weiss simply nodded her head as she took a quick glance behind her. Blake was right, around thirty feet behind them were two soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus. One was inspecting the tower while the other made eye contact with her. He gave a curt nodded before she turned to face forward.

"Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War," explained Weiss to both Ruby and to jab at the soldiers following them.

Ruby who did not notice they were being followed jested, "Oh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!"

"Don't be a pest! Besides, the only reason _we're_ here is because _you_ like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library!" pestered the Schnee as she turned around to face her partner. The two soldiers stopped walking and both turned to inspect the tower.

The crimson reaper commented as she pulled out her scroll, "I know, but it's so _cool!_ Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!" The device fell out of her hands and landed at a Penny's feet.

Skitarii Ranger-2948 _'Agent'_ and Skitarii Ranger-6213 _'Thirteen'_ watched from afar as the students known as Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee engaged in conversation with a student from Atlas known as Penny Polendina. Then the Atlesian student started quickly walked away with Ruby in pursuit. Agent yelled at Thirteen, -Follow them, I will follow the Schnee! We will meet up at LZ Old Man.- The Skitarii followed orders left Agent by himself to follow the other student from Beacon.

Weiss watched as Penny and Ruby walked away, but then she noticed one of the soldiers walk past her to follow the two of them. She turned around to see the other soldiers watching her from where he was a minute ago, he simply waved in response to her glare. Weiss decided not to interact with the soldier and continued to head into the CCT. The Schnee walked thru the lobby of the tower at a slow pace to marvel in all of the beauty. She chose to avoid the central terminal and head for the elevator, either the soldier would join her in the elevator or wait till it reached the lobby after she left it. Giving her a head start. The doors automatically slide open to allow the Heiress to enter, once inside she turned around to see the soldier to which she gave a wave.

The Skitarii watched from the entrance to the CCT as his target went into the elevator. He did not have much of a choice of what to do, so he waited at the entrance to the elevator. Ten seconds later the doors opened automatically and Agent stepped into the elevator. What he hoped was the machine spirit of the elevator greeted him, "Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" The Skitarii had no idea what floor his target went to and there were no buttons on the elevator.

"I would like to go up a floor," responded the Ranger.

The voice questioned, "Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" He did not have a scroll, the tech-priest were still debating if it would be tech-heresy to use one. Agent would exit the elevator but the doors were shut and there were not exit buttons. He failed his mission because he could not find out how to use the feudal technology, how would he explain that to Dominus Ferrum when he returns to LZ Old Man. The Skitarii had nothing better to do he started to pray to the Omnissiah for salvation. One minute and thirty eight seconds later the elevator starts moving up and the doors open. Agent could not help but the cheer, that was until the elevator doors opened and he was standing face to face with Weiss Schnee.

She stepped into the elevator and asked, "Why are you following us?"

Agent informed her, "I am here to learn the life and culture of the locals to better integrate this planet into the Imperium."

She repeated herself, "Why are you following us?"

"You are planning to arrest a highly wanted criminal, that is not a safe thing to do for six first year students," countered the Ranger.

Thirteen the Skitarii walked a perfect thirty feet behind the two students as they had a conversation. He was only half listening to the conversation, he cogitators were scanning what he heard for anything about the wanted criminal or anything else important. A large portion of the talk was about Penny's father, which he could care less about. The conversation stopped when they reached the Atlas Military Presentation with was hosted by General Ironwood. He recorded the speech to be sent to the tech-priest latter, but he himself focused his attention on the two girls. That is when the Skitarii heard the signature sound of the war horn of Metalica. The entire crowd turned to see the military parade.

Thru the streets marched the second wave of reinforcements under leadership of Dominus Quin Decium and Enginseer Precision. The two tech-priest lead the parade with twenty Skitarii and twenty Sicarians behind them that marched in perfect unison. The twelve Kataphrons followed behind the infantry with the five Dragoons and five Ironstriders flanking them. Bringing up the rear was an Onager of the Neutron Laser variant with six Kastelans behind the blessed machine. It was a beautiful sight to the Skitarii Ranger to see more of his fellow comrades, but to the crowd of civilians it was a sight of awe and fear. Pugnus was living up to his promise, we was bringing enough firepower to destroy the Grimm menace. Ironwood continued his speech and revealed something called the Atlesian Paladin, it reminded the soldier of an extremely downgraded version of a Titan.

The student called Penny started ran across the street with Ruby in pursuit after seeing a pair of Atlesian soldiers charging after her. Thirteen was quick to join in the chase. The two soldiers caught up to him and one of them asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I have been tasked to keep the student from Beacon safe," lied the Skitarii and the three of them ran after the two students. Thirteen's superior augmented legs allowed him to stay between the crimson teen and the pair of soldiers making sure neither lost the location of the other. Ruby uses her weapon to cut down the flimsy support structure for a stack of wooden boxes. The Ranger was ready for this and destroyed a large portion of the boxes with his Galvanic Rifle while not slowing down his speed. Once he rounded the corner he saw the red student grab the Atlesian Student and bolt down the alley at speeds which should not be possible for organic humans.

The three soldiers come upon a car crash with Penny stopping the van from hitting Ruby, something did not seem right about that Atlesian Student. The two soldiers stopped at the scene to calm down the civilians, while the Skitarii pushed onwards. He found the two at the end of the alleyway with nowhere to run, Thirteen decided to listen in on their conversation instead of confronting them. They were having an argument about trusting each other and friendship, the soldier had to try his best not to laugh at their naivety. Then he overhead Penny quietly say, "Ruby... I'm not a real girl."

Whatever she is it is probably tech-heresy, that the tech-priests will debate upon latter. He took a moment to check that his weapon is loaded before listening back on the conversation. "Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura. I'm not real," explained Penny. Thirteen has heard enough to put the machine person under investigation. If she proves to be an Abominable Intelligence or a Men of Iron, that could act as a casus belli against Atlas. The Skitarii decided to return back to base before he got caught by the potential enemy. The Magos Dominus would love to learn about his findings, and he could be promoted to an Alpha Skitarii for his deeds in the name of the Omnissiah.


	12. Chapter 10

**Reviews:**

 **Mephistopheless: I notice that some authors that combine a warhammer character into the RWBY universe tend to soften them over the course of the story, that is not a bad thing but it has been done before. The Magos Dominus wants to feel pleased, sine his emotions are dampened it feels like getting to see your best friend in person after a year or two.**

 **Dovasinn270: While it is always nice to have your OC in a story, yours might not fit in this story. But maybe in my next story after Gleaming Giants is finished. I am planning to do a story about every major Forge World going into a different universe, this is my Metalica and I will have the final chapter be a poll for what universe to send the next Forge World into. All the tech-priest have different hobbies that will be revealed over the course of the story. Thanks for the blessing of the machine god!**

 **Artyom-Dreizehn: I am having aura be adding a wound or six to the model. I am still trying to balance it and I would love to hear your ideas. Only the standard issued weapons will be seen until the Adeptus Mechanicus starts to annex land on the planet. I know the problem of sending an OP army into a world of people with less advanced technology. I might buff aura a little too much or dumb down the Ad Mech forces by accident, let me know if I go too far in either of these directions. But I do not want the battles between the Ad Mech and the locals be a cake walk for either side, unless if they bring in their strongest weapons.**

 **Chapter Master Sinclair: To be honest, it took longer than it should have to figure out who 'pen' was. In Chapter Two (2), Penny, John, Dane, Ian, and Alex stayed at the entrance to the bunker while the four other Atlesian Soldiers entered into the bunker and were presumed dead.**

 **Guest: The androids are robots run by code, they do not count as Men of Iron. If they did, then the city of Atlas would already be ruins. They are just simple robots, similar to the Kastelans but without being blessed by the Omnissiah and far inferior.**

 **Votes for Trial of Penny:**

 **Automata [2]**

 **Silica Animus [5]**

 **Feudal STC [2]**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: Sorry for not uploading sooner, the college trip took longer than expected. The radio frequency came from the rough point cost of the army divided by 10. Also, I will be slowly going away from cannon starting in this chapter. I am trying to add more gore and death into the story to make it match up to the standards of the 41st millennium and the M rating.**

Chapter Ten: Dimming the Torch

All of his forces on the surface were waiting at Beacon and the orbital scans started to give off their first targets. His subordinates informed him that some of the soldiers must be spared to arrest this Roman Torchwick. He will spare the three units of Dragoons, one unit of Ironstriders, the two Onagers, and two units of Skitarii Vanguard. He personally gave them orders to save as many civilians as possible and prevent the criminal to harm them. The citizens of Remnant would view the Adeptus Mechanicus as their saviors before he puts them under heel. A Vulture landed and the Ruststalkers and Infiltrators silently loaded upon the machine to bring the wrath of the Omnissiah upon the enemy. The Magos Dominus as going to speak with Ozpin about allowing him to start orbital bombardment on a Grimm hoard near the local mountains until a Skitarii Ranger, that should be out in the field, stopped him.

General Ironwood watched from Ozpin's office as one of the Adeptus Mechanicus VTOL craft filled with twenty soldiers left the landing pads heading to Oum knows where. He knew whatever they were planning it is not good for Remnant. The Atlesian quickly left Beacon Tower and started to march to the Magos Dominus to get answers. Once he saw the tech-priest he noticed that one of his soldiers was giving him a report in their own secret language. General Ironwood interrupted their conversation, "Where exactly is that VTOL craft going Pugnus?" The Skitarii moved his hand to the trigger of his weapon, but the Magos Dominus stopped him.

Pugnus lightly remarked, "We can keep him alive for now. After all he saved me from walking up all those flights of stair to confront him. It is nice to see you General Ironwood, I was just informed about one of Atlas' recent creations. Penny Polendina to be exact, the reason I bring this up is because she might be viewed as tech-heresy to the eyes of the Omnissiah. I will have a council with the other tech-priest to debate this matter. Inform the creator that they will be given fifteen minute to tell us how the android you call Penny operates. It might mean war if the answers are unsatisfactory. Tune into radio frequency 904.7 in thirty-one minutes to answer your question." After threatening him with war over a single android, he just walked away like nothing happened. It was starting to get on his nerves how Pugnus acted like he owned the place, Ironwood planned to talk to Ozpin about this latter. But right now he had a few calls to make.

All of the tech-priest, except for Cyber, gathered onto a single Vulture which left for the fleet in orbit. The trial will last anywhere between 24 hours to 72 hours. The Cybernetica Datasmith was left alone with his blessed Kastelans, which was until one of the students came up to talk with him. "Where are all of the other leaders going?" asked the student known as Emerald. Cyber knew that she was on the list of students that the Logis in the fleet are inspecting, perhaps he could get them more information to help the research.

"They are conduction important discussions that could change the maps of this world within the week," explained Datasmith-1721.

The student gave Cyber a confused glance before interpreting, "Are they planning to invade a Kingdom?" The Datasmith shook his head before returning back to his blessed Kastelans. Before there was only six, but now there are twelve. It made his servo joints leap for joy. They six Kastelans under the command of Dominus Quin Decium were armed with their fists and Incendine Combustors. Despite him clearly working on checking on the holy automata the student continued asking questions, "Where did the bullhead of twenty soldiers go earlier?"

She was going from innocent asking to a potential spy quicker than the Datasmith would prefer. "Frequency 904.7 in twenty-eight minutes will answer your question." The frequency itself contains a broadcast that is planned to spread propaganda and reports on all of the White Fang members killed by the Omnissiah's unstoppable wrath. Their names would be read off in alphabetical order pretending that they refused surrendered and were slain by the Sicarians. This plan was already in action so most of the member of the Adeptus Mechanicus knew about it. Cyber wished he did not receive information when the Skitarii did, it was a little bit insulting.

The two Skitarii Rangers assigned to observe the targets of Yang Xiao Long and Neptune Vasilias lost them once they obtained a motorcycle. Both of them agreed to position themselves between the other Rangers in Vale and Beacon Academy to better transmit the location of the criminal. While they were waiting they decided to sit at a local establishment that served rations, otherwise known as a cafe. They could not eat anything because they do not have the local currency or have the desire to consume food. When it started to hit dusk, they received a transmission from the two Skitarii assigned to Blake Belladonna and Sun Wukong, -We have a location of a White Fang recruitment outpost in the City of Vale at sector 3403. The terrorist also stole an armored walker with assistance from the HVT. Requesting that the counterattack start now.-

The stolen Atlesian Paladin chased after the two students throughout the streets of Vale. The loud crack of galvanic rifles answer to the rogue machine's rampage, the chase soon leaves the range of the Skitarii who stopped their firing. Ignoring the shocked civilians around them, they join in the chase.

Weiss picked up her scroll to hear the answer the call from Blake, "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-" The Faunus was cut off by Sun's yelling, to which she glanced at the Skitarii following her. His, if it even is a guy, only response was him checking what she assumed to be magazine of his weapon.

Yang and Neptune sat outside of the nightclub on her motorcycle listening in on the call. While Sun was terribly explained what was happening, the blue haired student spotted them running down the street with a giant robot chasing them with two Adeptus Mechanicus chasing after the giant robot. Neptune remarked, "I think that was them." Yang quickly hit the throttle on her motorcycle to join in on the chase, the two Skitarii glared at them as they drove past them.

The pair of Ranger Skitarii in the chase kept giving coordinates to where the criminal was and where he was going, that was true until he reached the highway. In their rampage, multiple cars were tossed to the side of the road and the civilian passengers could have been harmed. A regular Skitarii would view civilians as something to ignore, but their new orders forced them to change their habits. The two broke off from the chase and rushed to the car crashes. The broke windows, ripped off doors, and moved cars just to save as many civilians, both abhuman and human, as possible. The other Skitarii Rangers soon reached their location and joined in the tedious work of saving civilian, some of whom need medical aid quickly.

Due to the ice created by one of the Beacon students, the Paladin lost stability and fell off of the highway. The Dragoons quickly surrounded the mech with the Ironstriders off in the back ready to support their Skitarii comrades. One of the Skitarii yelled thru his vox, "This is your last chance to surrender Torchwick! If you defy us there will be consequences!" The rest of team RWBY joined their leader in front of the stolen Paladin a few of them glared at the Adeptus Mechanicus forces. The criminal responded by slowly approaching the four students. The same Skitarii yelled, -Start the Benedictions of the Omnissiah and open fire!-

The Sydonian Dragoons peppered the walker with their Phosphor Serpenta, while the six armed with Radium Jezzails focused fire on the cockpit of the Paladin. The six Ironstrider Ballistarii awoke every civilian in the area with the sound of their twin cognis autocannons, whose machine spirits screamed for the death of the unsanctioned machine in front of them. Ruby Rose quickly ordered her team, "Freezer Burn!" Blake and Ruby stepped back as Weiss created a circle of ice which Yang in a mere second turned to mist with her fire dust round. Unfortunate for the soldiers of the metal messiah, they were taller than the cloud of water vapor. The criminal sent out a wave of rockets and fired the armed mounted energy cannons at the chicken walkers, but thanks to the mist their targeting system could not work and he was inexperienced with how to operate his machine of war properly.

The four students started to employ hit and run tactics under the cover of the water vapor cloud, their slashing weapons did little against the armor compared to the arms of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The lead Dragoon yelled over the sounds of battle, -One more volley then have the Vanguards enter the fray! - The twenty-four chicken walkers responded with a glorious chorus of gunfire. The air was starting to become polluted with small pools of phosphex, faint remains of radium in the air, and shell casings from the autocannons. The Paladins was visible slower than before, it was on its last legs.

"Ladybug!" ordered Ruby as she launched herself at the walker with the recoil from her weapon, with Blake soon following. Under their constant pressure, the Paladin started to break and fell down to the ground with the pilot of the machine brushed himself off as he inspected the remains of his stolen machine. Yang quickly fired a shot at the unarmed criminal, but a two-toned girls blocked the bullet with an umbrella.

"Ladies, cyborgs, and Ice Queen…" remarked Torchwick. Ignoring Weiss' interjection he continued, "Always a pleasu…" He was silenced when a volley from the hidden Vanguards' radium carbines pierced thru his body. Two fist sized holes now covered his chest, while the girl block four rounds with her umbrella. The other twenty-four shots riddled the asphalt ground. The two-toned girl spared a glance at her comrade before running away from the battlefield. Two Skitarii Vanguards rushed up to the corpse and checked for a pulse. Their white robes were stained with the puddle of blood now surrounding the ex-criminal.

"No pulse," informed the Skitarii to the four dumbfounded students as he and the soldier next to him picked up the body by the arms and legs. All of the soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus left the encounter in complete silence, their work here was done.

A news reporter ran up to the soldiers and asked, "With Roman Torchwick dead, what does the Adeptus Mechanicus have to comment about this?"

The Alpha Vanguard explained, "The Magos Dominus will give a comment on this matter tomorrow. Right now it is time for the citizens to go back to bed knowing that they streets are now safer." The column of warriors of the Omnissiah resumed their silent march to the landing pads to head back to Vale, a cooler of ice was waiting for them in the Vulture for the corpse. On the other side of the city, a second squad of Vanguards and the two Onagers surrounded the White Fang recruitment outpost. The terrorist inside quickly chose to surrender for most of them were fresh recruits and unarmed, they were all secretly loaded onto a Vulture that left for the fleet in orbit. The remaining soldiers started walking to the landing pads as well.

Cinder watched from her dorm as the news reports came in. The great criminal Roman Torchwick was found dead at the hands of the Adeptus Mechanicus after he rampaged thru the city of Vale harming civilians. It appears the robots have chosen to side against her and the Queen, she will make sure they pay for their insolence.

General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin were discussion the plans for the Vytal Festival, but Professor Goodwitch stopped their conversation when she barged into the room. Glynda did not say a word, instead she brought up the news on her scroll and showed it to the two headmaster in the room. The news reporter stated, "Early this evening the wanted criminal Roman Torchwick was killed by soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus when he was using a stolen Atlesian Paladin to rampage thru the city. At this time there has been no comment from the Adeptus Mechanicus leaders."

"They are dangerous Ozpin, this only helps prove my point," accused the General.

Ozpin countered, "On the contrary Ironwood, this only shows how far they are willing to go to defeat their enemies. I do not doubt their threat to us, but I am interested on how Pugnus will comment on this problem. Also, which criminal will fill the power gap left in the wake of Mister Torchwick's recent demise and when will they do it?" How the headmaster saw this, the Magos Dominus could either damage or increase the people's faith in the Adeptus Mechanicus with how he acts in the next twenty-four hours.

A group of twelve tech-priest sat around a table in the _Astral Knight_ , they were the jury of the trial of the fate of the one called Penny Polendina. Five of them so far claimed that she was an Silica Animus and had to be destroyed before there is a repeat of the Men of Iron, Dominus Ferrum lead this front. Four Adepts reasoned that she is just another robot similar to the Atlesian Knights, Dominus Decium lead this group. All of the tech-priest in the room had a laughing fit when they saw what the Atlesian call a Knight, it was nothing compared to their Knights. The Magos Dominus stayed silent during the entire debate. Magos Explorator Double Null questioned, -Magos Dominus Pugnus, what do you believe this Penny Polendina is? Do you side with the youngest tech-priest by condemning her, or do you side with reason that she is a simple Automata?-

-I will refrain from speaking until her creator explains what she is, right now I have a statement to create about the recent death of Roman Torchwick at the hands of a squad of Skitarii Vanguards. Magos Biologis Nova will you please follow me to the hangers, there are fresh shipments of… _local specimens_ from the surface. - explained Pugnus as he left the room and headed for the door, with another tech-priest in tow.

-The meeting is on hold, you may return to your previous work on board the ship, - ordered Magos Explorator Double Null. The other ten tech-priest slowly started to dissipate out of the confined room back to their offices or resting quarters. They all have work to be done, and if they did not they could always conduct the weekly ritual of their machine augmentations or recharge in their rooms.

 **Afterword: Short chapter with abrupt cut off just to get something out to you guys on the weekend, next chapter will not be longer.**


	13. Chapter 11

**Reviews:**

 **Dovashinn270: That sounds like an interesting OC, when I make my Mars story I will see if I can add him in. It will be in the far future because I got a great idea for a Lucius story.**

 **Cheshire1999: Glad you found that line ironic, most of the powerful leaders on Remnant still view the Adeptus Mechanicus weaker or equal in strength compared to Atlas. Magos Dominus Pugnus plans to change that with help from Baron Siezant. Thanks for the review!**

 **Chapter Master Sinclair: Good to know that you loved the death of Roman Torchwick. And to be fair, some of the Vanguard did think he looked like a bitch.**

 **KlockB: He was going to start a monologue and the Adeptus Mechanicus do not stop fighting to talk with the enemy. Neo will grieve and seek revenge for Roman's death, but she can do that if she died alongside him. I would have her yell out curses to the Ad Mech, but you know why that can't happen.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: Made a typo in the afterword last chapter, this will be longer than the previous one. Also found a few typos in the earlier chapters but they are along the lines of adding a second 'L' to Metalica. To be honest, I am surprised that the servitors count as Elites in the Codex and not Troops while the Kataphrons are Troops. Since I do not see use of smoke or stun grenades with in the huntsmen in RWBY, I am going to assume most do not recognize what they do at first glance. Aura colors are as follows. Green: 100%-51%. Yellow: 50%-26. Red: 25%-0%**

Chapter Eleven: Judgement

Magos Dominus Pugnus was sitting in his quarters while on a call with a news reporter from the local planet, the call as easy enough to set up due to the Talpa Code that inhabited everything connected to the CCTS system. Once the reporter realized what was happening she started asking questions, "What do you have to say about the recent death of Roman Torchwick?"

His mechanical voice calmly responded, "I am disappointed at his demise yesterday, I expected that my forces had the capability to take him in alive. With him dead, the task of finding all of the stolen dust will be longer and more complicated. Also there is now a power gap in the criminal underworld. To anyone who seeks to take the title that Mr. Torchwick once held, you will meet a worse fate than him. But now the citizens of Vale can sleep peacefully knowing that the streets at night as now safer. Now, I have important matters to conduct on my flagship." The tech-priest quickly cut off the call and started to head back to the jury room.

The twelve tech-priest joined together in the jury room for what they hopped was the final time. A metallic voice spoke over the vox at the center of the table, "I sure hope this is working." Pugnus was confused why the human creator was talking in a robotic voice. The voice continued, "I am the creator of Penny, and I am currently using a voice changer at the order of General Ironwood. The android herself is an upgrade of the new Atlesian Knight-200. The thing that sets her apart is that she can generate aura artificially, and she was a program that can mimic human gestures, phrases, and emotions. All of her code is stored in the android itself unlike the AK-200 server of code. If any of this breaks your laws than you cannot blame us for that because we did not know your laws exist, and we only follow our own laws."

Dominus Ferrum had to acknowledge the flesh bags ability to openly defy the Adeptus Mechanicus, even if he used a voice changer to try to hide himself from them. By the way he phrased it, Penny was a simple android with complex programs. Since all of her programs were stored in her model, the Talpa Code could not be used to check the authenticity of his statements. The Magos Dominus stood up and announced, -Whatever we judge Penny to be. Her fate will not change, she will not be destroyed! If we find that she is an Abominable Intelligence we will carefully watch her and punish Atlas is they attempt to build more like her. If we find that she is an Automata, like how her creator describes her, then nothing will happen.-

The eleven other tech-priest nodded in agreement with the plan. Pugnus continued, -This might be the final vote. All in favor of deeming Penny Polendina as a Automata raise a mechadendrite. - The Magos Dominus raised his right hand, and the four other supports of the Automata sentence followed suit. Slowly the other seven tech-priest copied suit and soon the jury had reached a decision. Rubrum ordered, -It has been decided. The android known as Penny Polendina shall be left unharmed by the Adeptus Mechanicus unless the Automata seeks hostiles first.-

Dominus Ferrum, Dominus Decium, Enginseer Eights, and Enginseer Precision loaded unto the first Vulture heading to the surface. A few of the other tech-priest hinted at their want to inspect the planet from the surface, the most adamant was Magos Biologis Nova. The ride to the surface would take anywhere from two to four hours, hopefully the Cybernetica Datasmith could handle the forces there for a few more hours.

One Beacon Campus the Cybernetica Datasmith was currently wondering if a volley from the _Grim Shepherds_ would silence the multiple students asking him questions on almost every topic. Ranging from what is the broadcast on frequency 904.7 doing, why is Torchwick dead, and how do your weapons work. He fired his gamma pistol into the sky to silence the crowd, "My duty is to direct the wrath of the Kastelan Robots, you can redirect your questions to the higher ranking tech-priests who will be arriving in a couple hours!" Most of them dispersed except for a few stubborn and curios students, team RWBY was the only ones he was concerned about. Three of their members were on the list the Magos Dominus has of students to be careful around.

"What did the broadcast on frequency 904.7 mean? It was just a bunch of names!" demanded Blake as she stepped forward a single step.

Cyber believed it would be harmless to answer that question, "It was a list of every identified casualty inflicted upon the White Fang is the recent attack on their local outpost. I thought the host should have explained that before he started reading off the names."

The student's amber eyes went ablaze with fury, "Why would you kill so many Faunus?!'

"I have killed no one while on this planet," countered the Datasmith.

Blake spat out, "You know what I mean."

Cyber remarked as he turned to clean his robots, "You fail to recognize that I am the one receiving orders and not giving them. But nonetheless, the terrorist group known as the White Fang is a steadfast enemy of mankind. The Adeptus Mechanicus has sworn to protect mankind, to you see where the two ideals conflict."

"They are a collections of misguided Faunus!" yelled the hidden Faunus. The Cybernetica Datasmith slowly turned around and stared silently at the student, it almost felt like he was inspecting her. It creeped her out more than is should have.

-That is why you are on the list abhuman, - remarked Cyber to himself. He questioned her, "Do you believe that Faunus should have equal rights as humans?" The student nodded her head as he continued, "Then why do you not take pride in who you are? You claim to want to help Faunus but you hide the fact you are one and leave the other Faunus alone and without support. You run from responsibility for your own personal gains while pushing the punishment onto others." Her teammates were surprised at his accusations of her being a Faunus, maybe they did not know this or they cannot conceive how he figure out her secret. To be honest, the bow only hides the ears from the front and the twitching does not help either.

Blake stepped back in shock, how he knew she asked herself as she started to run away. Yang decided to follow her partner thru the school, while the Datasmith commented, "That only proves my point."

"Why did all of the tech-priest leave?" asked Weiss.

"You are talking to one right now," corrected Cyber.

The heiress was trying to connect the dots in his statement and what she observed, "You have a lot less robes than the other tech-priest, and why you are always standing behind these robots?"

Cyber carefully explained, "Cybernetica Datasmiths, which is my rank, are a specialist rank of Tech-Priest in the Legio Cybernetica." This only appear to have caused more questions, Omnissiah be damned!

"What is the Legio Cybernetica?" asked the heiress.

"The Legio Cybernetica is one of the most ancient sub-branches of the Adeptus Mechanicus, which specializes in deploying fully autonomous battle-automata for combat and support tasks. In your feudal tongue fully autonomous battle-automata means combat designed robots that can think for themselves," translated Cyber.

Weiss deadpanned, "Like the Atlesian Knights."

The Datasmith corrected the student, "No because the Atlesian Knights are all connected to a central server, and the Legio Cybernetica is superior in quality and quantity." The truth appeared to upset the Schnee, he felt barely pleased at her discomfort which was strange. For the longest time he believed his augmentations prevented him from having emotions, it turns out that his assumptions were based on falsehoods. The heiress muttered to herself as she went after Yang and Blake, only leaving on bastard student left to get rid of. Ruby Rose, he would need divine intervention from the Omnissiah to complete this task.

Before Eights left for the fleet he had warned Cyber, _'If you talk to Ruby Rose you need to be careful with what you say. She has potential to be the first tech-priest from this world! One second thought, do not say anything to her at all.'_ Well that plan went out the window when she was asked, "Could I see some of the robots in the Ledgeo Siburnetica?" Her pronunciations of his organization made him crack a smirk under all of his augmentations, with it a tingle of pride filled his cogitators when he was presented the ability to boast about the power of the blameless machines.

"It is fine that you mispronounced it, but yes you can see the battle-automata of the Legio Cybernetica. I will even show you the unit called the _Grim Shepherds_ who ironically hold the honor of slaying the first Grimm on this planet," stated the Datasmith as he lead the student to his most prized robots. He quoted from his past, "O, to stride with giants into the crucible of war! Blessed is he who guides the blame less machine, trusted is he who carries the sacred wafer, its holy writ brings salvation and destruction, the word of the Omnissiah that brings all dooms. That is the Cant-Mantra of the Datasmith Prioris, my dear friend. And now stands before you are the _Grim Shepherds_ , a unit of six Kastelan Class Battle-Automata armed with three heavy phosphor blasters."

"What caliber round do they shot?" questioned the crimson student.

Cyber boasted, "Their ammo is not counted in caliber, but in volume of superheated phosphex. Each salvo have different amounts of fuel used, but the results are all the same. The target is burned alive even if they are behind cover. They stand at 4.2 meters tall, or 13 feet and 9 inches in your feudal units, and their height allows them to conduct suppressive fire orders or eliminations volleys on hostile targets. All of which I orchestrate with my special augmentations." The young feudal's eyes were filled with wonder and curiosity, the Datasmith realized what Eights saw in her. He continued explaining, "I notice that you have a lot of interest in their weapons, sadly I do not know how they are made. But you can ask on of the Enginseers when they return from the fleet today." Ruby nodded in understanding as she left the Adeptus Mechanicus camp on Beacon Academy grounds to join back with the rest of her team.

The classes for the students were going normally, that was until the tech-priest got back to the surface. Ira and Quin headed for combat class, while the two Enginseers slowly marched to the school's forge. Professor Goodwitch was surprised to see the two tech-priest enter her classroom unannounced, thankfully there were not students in the room at the time. The male Dominus introduced himself, "I am Tech-Priest Dominus Quin Decium, the leader of the second wave of reinforcements sent by Magos Dominus Pugnus. My colleague and I have devised a test for your students that will run parallel with what you are going to teach them today."

The professor asked, "What is that test?"

Ira stepped forward and explained, "How to spot the weakness in your enemy and how to exploit it. Before the match I will ask each student to state their weakness and their opponent's. Then they will have to explain how they plan to cover their weakness and use their enemy's flaw against them. We will also be stating flaws if the students miss any, we will be blunt with our statements and hopefully your students can handle them." Their plan sounded good on paper. It did not interfere with her teaching, but the blunt statements could be a problem. The bell rang signaling that the students would soon be arriving.

Team JNPR and RWBY entered Professor Goodwitch's class and were greeted with two of the tech-priests. The teacher stepped forward and explained, "Today in class, Dominus Ferrum and Dominus Decium have volunteered to help teach you about finding weaknesses in your enemy. Does anyone want to volunteer to fight first?" Ruby and a random male student raised their hands first, both left the stands and went to their lockers. Five minutes later Ruby was in the ring with her baby Crescent Rose and the other student held a longsword with both of his hands.

Before the bell rang Dominus Ferrum questioned the boy, "What are the flaw that you spot in your enemy?"

"Her weapon had a longer reach than mine in melee and with the sniper rifle built into it she has ranged superiority," responded the student looking toward the tech-priest who slowly shook his head.

"You are only looking at her weapon, a warrior is not defined by that. What flaws do you see in her," corrected Ira, to which the boy only gave her a confused glance. She explained, "She is the youngest in the room currently, female, and is lacking strong muscles in her arms and legs. This means that she is physically weaker than you. Yet she is strong enough to properly wield her weapon. She is also a team leader while you are not, she is mentally more tactical than you. Her eyes are the next flaw, they are filled with the naivety of a child. She will not go for dirty moves or underhanded tactics." The robed cultist turned to face the crimson teen, "How will you stop him from exploiting your many flaws?"

"With Crescent Rose!" yelled the student in response. Dominus Ferrum had to deactivate the servo joints in her hand to stop from face palming.

She countered, "The hilt of his longsword can be used to smash your knuckles, forcing you to drop you scythe. What will you do then?"

Ruby gripped her weapon tighter, "That will never happen!"

"With that mentality you will get someone killed in the future. The only question left would be if that person is you, a comrade, or a civilian," warned Ira. The teen found interest in her feet for some reason. The tech-priest continued, "Now Ruby, what flaws do you see in your enemy?"

The crimson student perked up at the question, "His weapon of choice is a longsword that he holds with both of his hands, it shows no signs of mech shifting so that means he has no ranged weapons without switching weapons. His stance hint that he will use either feints or bashing moves to break open my guard. He is older and stronger than me, which means that he can overpower me if I try to block and hold his sword."

"You forgot his legs, they are stronger than his arms which hints at his reliance on fast speeds. His eyes are squinted while he is smirking, he has no qualms on using underhanded and dirty tactics to win this fight," added the female tech-priest. Ira turned to face the male student, "How will you stop her from exploiting your many flaws?"

He replied, "Preventing her from using her range advantage by cornering her against the ring wall."

Dominus Decium decided to interrupt the questioning, "A battle is like a journey, you go from point A to point B. The two of you are currently at point A, what you just said was your point B. To master war you must find the fastest way to point B from point A without abandoning your morals. Point A and point B are always the same, therefore they do not matter. What counts is how you get to the end result. That is enough questioning for now Dominus Ferrum." The female tech-priest walked out of the ring to Quin's side and watched at the start bell was rung.

Following the advice given to her by the adepts, she planted the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground and started taking pot shots at the other student. He on the other hand was running in a zigzag pattern to mess with her aiming, but a few bullets found their mark. The male student reached into melee range he brought the sword down in an overhead strike with his entire momentum into the attack. The crimson teen ripped her scythe out of the floor and leaped to her left to avoid the strike. Once Ruby's feet hit the ground she had a split second to block a slash across her stomach with the staff of Crescent Rose. With a flick of his wrist, his blade slid down the pole of the weapon and smacked against her knuckles.

While aura can protect against attacks the user must concentrate to activate it, Ruby was not prepared for the disarming strike. Her hand let go of Crescent Rose while her other hand gripped tighter on the weapon to not lose it. Ruby's opponent ignored disarming her and took advantage of breaking her guard with a shoulder bash. The crimson reaper fell ungracefully to the ground and her weapon fell out of her hand due to the sudden stop of momentum. On instinct Ruby rolled over Crescent Rose and grabbed the weapon mid roll, while the ground where she was cracked under the might of the longsword. The female student quickly got up on her own two feet, but the male student did not halt his pursuit. But thanks to her semblance Ruby was able to get to the other side of the ring before he could attack her.

The male student glanced up at the screen, she was at 94% while he sat at 90%. Ruby readied her sniper for him to charge, but instead he pulled out a canister from one of his large pockets. She hesitated as he pulled a pin out of the can and tossed it in between the two of them. Within seconds the arena was filled with smoke, preventing both of the students to see the other. The crimson started to fire randomly into the cloud with not audible or visual results. That was until the longsword reached out of the darkness and sliced at her right arm, she had no time to block the attack but she could use her aura to soften the blow. As soon at the attack hit the crimson reaper the weapon disappeared into the smoke, she retaliated with unloading a clip from where the longsword came from.

Then the ring was quiet, Ruby stood there with her baby in the sniper form ready to fire at the slightest sound. A loud clang came from the other side of the ring, to which she fired three tightly grouped bullets. As she was recovering from the recoil from the third shot, the sword came out of the black clouds and smashed against her aura. She responded with a quickly aimed shot that did force him to let out a grunt. He disappeared into the smoke again, but Ruby was ready for him this time for she shifted her weapon to the scythe variant and waited for him to strike again. But it did not come, instead as the smoke started to fade a canister rolled up to her feet. It was similar to the smoke grenade, but it had holes in the canister in three rows with four columns.

A bright flash with a loud noise dazed the crimson reaper as the male student took the chance to rip across her torso that was protected by aura. Once Ruby could see again, her opponent was standing in front of her and recovering from a strong swing that she felt. She slammed Crescent Rose into his chest with the added speed from the recoil from a sniper round. The force of the attack made the male student stumble backwards as he put his longsword into a defensive stance. Instead of continuing with the pursuit, Ruby turned her weapon back to the sniper form and fired three dust infused bullets into his chest.

She took the time while her enemy was recovering to glance at their aura levels. She was at 73% while he stood on the edge of yellow at 65%. Ruby looked back at her opponent to see that he was starting to charge her again, a few rounds did stunt his mad dash but it failed to stop him. Instead of striking her shoulder bashed her to the ground and followed up with the flat side of the blade smashing against her knee. The reaper raised Crescent Rose to block the second strike to her head. The male student instead of overpowering her kicked her in the chest, winding her in the process. The longsword fell upon Ruby as she gasped for air, she did not have the ability to block the attack.

The crimson student had a clever idea and swept her opponent's feet from under him. Once he hit the ground she quickly got up and swiped at his legs with her scythe, knocking off one of his shoes by accident. While he was slowly getting up Ruby took the time to get to the other side of the arena. He was without any helping items left in his pockets, but he still had his wits. Sadly he was also without a shoe with made his run tainted with a slight hobble. The female student did not hesitate this time and peppered him with bullets until the bell rang. She looked up to the screen to see his aura in the red while she was at the start of the yellow.

Professor Goodwitch stepped forward and glared at the male student as she stated, "I _highly_ advise against using live grenades in my class. Other than that, having no way method to kill Grimm other than melee can be dangerous. I would advise to look into a ranged mecha-shift."

Dominus Decium added on, "While I do not know if grenades work on the creatures you call Grimm, but they work efficiently on any human or Faunus enemies you face. Having only a melee weapon does not hinder your ability, the Sicarian Ruststalkers are a prime example of this. They use their speed to get into melee range before serious ranged damage can be inflicted upon them. That is what you lack. You need to work on your speed and ability once you are in melee range to stay there. After you have that down, then you can worry about actually swinging your sword properly." The student nodded at the tech-priest assessment of his combat skill.

"Ruby, you fell for both of the grenades which your opponent used to land a few strikes on you. Always be prepared for the unknown. Other than that you are improving" commented Glynda. Dominus Ferrum slowly shook her head.

"On the contrary professor, multiple moments during the sparring match Ruby hesitated in firing at her enemy. In the field that could lead to a death that could be easily prevented. When the smoke was deployed you tried twice to shot him thru the veil, both times you failed. The third time you understood how to counter his trick. Any huntsmen in training should have figured out the counter the second, and a team leader should have done it right the first time. If you cannot see your enemy you cannot shoot them," berated Ira. Ruby hid her face in her red hood as the female tech-priest continued, "Yet, I have to acknowledge that your idea to trip you enemy, remove his footwear to make him slightly off balance, and ability to shoot accurately when unobstructed is excellent but still can be improved upon. For no one can be perfect except the machine."

 **Afterword: How did I do on the combat scene, the aura made it drawn out longer than I felt is should have. But I am using it to test out the waters of combat scene before the bigger battles role around.**


	14. Chapter 12

**Reviews:**

 **Artyom-Dreizehn: Thanks for the feedback on the fight, it helped out a lot more than you know. I will barely use accurate measurements unless the person the point of view is focused on knows the correct length of what they are talking about, the only exception are tech-priest because they got their cogitators to measure that. Ad Mech uses metric while Remnant uses imperial. Reinforcements from the Imperium will not happen because it would take too long. The only reason it took Pugnus a year to reach the planet was because he was in the area doing something else (which will be explained later) and he was lucky enough to be the closest Ad Mech force. The rambling is perfectly fine, I do that all the time when the tech-priest talk. It also allows me to know that y'all are enjoying the story.**

 **Dovashinn270: The third wave of reinforcements will have plasma weapons. The servitors already have a plasma cannon, one reserve units of Skitarii Vanguards have three plasma calivers, and two reserve units of Kataphron Destroyers have plasma culverin. That is 28 plasma weapons in total within an army of 227 models (not including titans). Once the first manufactorium is built on Remnant,** _ **if**_ **there ever is one, more plasma weapons can be made to satisfy your need.**

 **Guest: Thanks for the review! I might have the Ad Mech characters rip into the flaws of the characters to expose them in the future while** _ **teaching**_ **at Beacon.**

 **KlockB: They can only have PTSD if they survive or do not get emotion inhibitors if they become adepts.**

 **Filthy Weeabu Trash: First off, my answer will not do your review justice. I try my best to answer reviews as Protector of Toaster, a face that I have that praises the Omnissiah and who writes stories. I know this review is not done, because every time I look at it I cannot help but to** _ **fix**_ **it. For this review I will be switching between myself and Protector of Toaster without any warning. It took me multiple hours just to think how to respond to this. Your actions seem similar to Slaaneshi cultists, but they will be overlooked. I personally do not use drugs, but I will remember to watch out for them. I do not support or condone the use of drugs, if you want to use them do so at your own risk. I am an extremely devout Christian, and your description of my story being the "physical manifestation of Christ" was surprising. I am human enough to emit that I did cry tears while reading this line, still do not know if they are tears of joy to sadness. I do not doubt your story because it is too insane to fabricate. While there are no Warlord Class Titans or Emperor Class Titans in this story, there will be multiple Imperial Knights enough to purge the enemies of the Omnissiah. I might write a non-cannon chapter where one shows up and just starts purging everything. I am terrible with understanding emotions because I mostly played board games against myself as a child, my sister had dolls and we usually ignored each other. I do not how I should feel about this review, it seems simpler to just to remove the review or ignore it but that is not anything Protector of Toaster or myself would do. It feels like a mixture of surprise, happiness, dread, and a cocktail of other emotions. Best way to describe it is an emotion that conflicts itself, similar to awe and fear of God. I hope that you follow whatever path you want to go down in life. I also read your** _ **Ours is the Iniquitous**_ **and it was one of the multiple stories that inspired me to start writing. I will make sure to follow one of your pieces of advice, I will continue to write until I finish this story or die first.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Notes: This chapter might be shorter due to me having to answer all of the reviews to my best ability. I hope you understand. Also, I talk about a lot of Warhammer lore in the chapter. I probably got it wrong, feel free to correct me on it. Nothing much will happen in the story in conflict wise, this is the time of high tensions in the story which will eventually break into a war. If the chapters start getting too boring for you, just let me know and I will cut to the chase.**

Chapter Twelve: Broken Hammer

The two Enginseers were having a nice and friendly conversation as they walked thru Beacon Academy. -I am only saying you are a control freak, - insulted Eights. His comrade responded by slapping the offender with his servo-arm, messing up Eights' robes. Precision then proceed to use his multiple mechadendrites to fix out the ruffles in Eights' robes. Eights continued, -This only proves my point you obsessive bastard! - Their petty fight was canceled when a certain student from Atlas walked up to them.

"Salutations, I am Penny Polendina. I have not seen anyone of you after you mysteriously left," introduced the android. Precision was beginning to wonder if she was informed about the trial. Eights knew this had to be handle carefully, so he turned to look at his comrade. Once their eyes meet they nodded, knowing what they had to do.

Eights turned on his vox, but his comrade cut him off, "We were gone because of you trial. I personally voted to condemn you to death while Enginseer Eights disagreed with me and said you should live." Penny was surprised at his statement and Eights smacked his comrade with his servo-arm.

"What trial? I was never informed about it!" questioned the Automata.

Eights carefully explained, "Your creator attended the trial in your defense. The Adeptus Mechanicus is extremely religious and AI are viewed as one of the highest forms of heresy. Since all we knew about you is that you are synthetic, many red flags popped up. The result of the trial that you are a simple android and will not be punished, the trial was deemed unimportant for the public to know." The tech-priest knew he should not be telling her this, but he at least expected the creator to tell Penny. Reports do show that she treats him as a father figure and vice versa. He introduced himself, "I am Tech-Priest Enginseer-8873, but you can call me Eights. The klutz to my left if Tech-Priest Enginseer-0352, his name is Precision."

Penny asked, "Do you need help around the school?"

"I already mapped the layout of the school while fleeing from Doctor Oobleck five days ago," responded Eights. His fellow tech-priest snickered at his misfortune, Eights made a mental reminder to shove Precision into Oobleck's classroom when they pass by it. His answered made Penny even more confused.

"Why were you running from a teacher?" she questioned. With this amount of questions she could become an inquisitor.

The Enginseer continued with his explanations, "The recaff addicted teacher saw me enter his classroom. He spat out so many questions at such a fast rate that it rivaled the fire rate of the Macrostubber. If he caught me it would lead to an hour of questioning with two to three hours. I was lucky enough to have lost him in the many turns this school has, his recaff powers only lasted so long. After the fact we became friends the next day, we spent our time talking about many things that make us different to the locals on this planet. Hopefully we see each other soon, until then goodbye." Eights grabbed onto Precision as he dragged him away from the Automata. Once around the corner he let his comrade fall to the group when he loosened his grip.

They continued their silent march until Eights stopped Precision and went back a few door. Both of them could hear the teach talking inside. -This does not sound like a forge, - commented Precision. Ignoring his comrades worries, Eights opened to door and kicked Precision inside.

"He is all yours Doctor!" yelled the Enginseer as he slammed the door shut. The tech-priest now inside the classroom slowly got himself off the ground, which his fall made a dent in the tiled floor. Precision looked around and spotted him, the recaff filled green haired demon. The stories were true! His augmented ears could trace the sound of Eights chackling on the other side of the door.

The Doctor commented, "You have come at a perfect time tech-priest, we were just talking about differences in culture."

Precision's mechadendrites started to twitch violently as he brushed the dirt off of his robes. His fellow Enginseer and this demon of a teacher were in collusion against him. Precision vowed to repay the favor to his _comrade_. The Enginseer stated, "I will be happy to answer any of your to the best of my abilities."

One of the students raised his hand Dr. Oobleck gestured towards him to which he asked a question, "What is the differences between a tech-priest and a human?"

"Humans are pure flesh, while a tech-priest is a human that has been augmented with blessed machines. This allows us to live longer and to be stronger mentally and physically." explained Precision.

Oobleck commented, "My discussion with Enginseer Eights lead me to find out that the oldest tech-priest is over 10,000 years old." The students were fascinated with how long someone could live, while other were skeptical.

"Are you sure he is that old. It is impossible," accused one of the more stuck up students.

"Only the smallest minds strives to comprehend the limits," retorted the tech-priest.

Another student asked, "Are there Faunus were you come from?"

Precision took a long sigh before stating, "Yes and no. There are non-humans in the Imperium of Man that _peacefully_ fight alongside the Astra Militarum. Yet there are xenos that are war against mankind. Only because we refuse to bend the knee to them. While those xenos as inferior to man do not underestimate them. It takes a strong or a dumb person to be an enemy of the Imperium of Man, in the case of the Orks it is both."

Doctor Oobleck took this time to ask a question, "Where does the Adeptus Mechanicus fall into all of this?" That political structure of the Imperium of Man is as complicated as it is corrupt, this was going to be hard to explain.

"Legally, the Adeptus Mechanicus answers to the High Lords of Terra who run the Imperium of Man. The Adeptus Mechanicus is one of the more autonomous organizations in the Imperium Man, similar to the Adeptus Astartes Legions, and the multiple Ordos Inquisition. Since our legal system runs parallel to that of the Imperium of Man, the Adeptus Mechanicus can be viewed as a military ally of the Imperium of Man but not part of it. There have been times where the Inquisition has been at war with the Adeptus Mechanicus, but it was filled with skirmishes and subterfuge instead of military confrontation. All of this is scratching the surface of where the Adeptus Mechanicus fall into the galaxy," explained Precision.

"You said Forge World Mars, and the news said Forge World Metalica. How many forge worlds are there?" asked a student who was writing down everything that the tech-priest stated.

The Enginseer shook his head, "To name all of them at a rate you could write them down would take the rest of the class period. Each forge world have their own icon and name, but there are seven that you need to know. Mars, Lucius, Agripinaa, Stygies VIII, Graia, Metalica, and Ryza." Precision walked up to the chalkboard and drew seven icons with names under them. From left to right there was a cog surrounding a skull, a fancy 'L' with a skull, two half cogs surrounding the pi symbol, a half cog over a Mistralian house, a rising sun surrounded by a half cog, a fist holding a hammer, and a 'R' made with a half cog and a skull in the hole. He continued his speech, "Each one of them have earned a stereotype which can be used to help and hurt them. Most notable is Stygies VIII's close to heretical actions, Graia's lust for blood shed, Metalica's quest for perfection, Ryza's tampering with weapons, Agripinaa's stubborn nature, Mars' highly dogmatic nature, and Lucius' defiance of what 'can't' be done. But then these are only stereotypes, and not facts."

"What do you think about Faunus?" questioned a Faunus students.

Precision knew he had to cut off this line of conversation as fast as possible, "That is irrelevant. I am here to talk about my people's culture and not myself. Next question."

The same student rephrased here question, "Do the Adeptus Mechanicus support equality between humans and Faunus?"

"The Adeptus Mechanicus as a whole has more concerning matters than two species not have completely equal rights. But concerning the members of the Adeptus Mechanicus in orbit of this planet the matter is different. Magos Dominus Pugnus does not wish to influence the four kingdoms' political structure while they are still separate from the Imperium of Man," deflected the tech-priest.

"Do the Adeptus Mechanicus plan to annex the four kingdoms?!" pursed the same Faunus girl.

The Enginseer repeated, "We plan to _peacefully_ integrate this lost colony back in the Omnissiah's holy fold." The doctor noted how the word 'peacefully' was stated as if it was foreign for him.

Oobleck stopped the Faunus student with a question of his own, "Who is the Omnissiah?"

"The Omnissiah is the name of the machine god who is worshipped by all members of the Cult Mechanicus. The Emperor of the Imperium of Man is the physical incarnation of the Omnissiah, there have been cults denying this but that can be talked about later. The machine god bestows the Motive Force unto all living machine spirits. Similar to us, every single piece of machinery has a soul. It is my job as an Enginseer to appease the spirits of the ancient engines of war of the Adeptus Mechanicus so that they run with matchless efficiency," preached Precision.

"That must be weird for multiple people to have held the title of Incarnation of the Omnissiah," remarked the Faunus student.

The tech-priest laughed a little as he answered, "There has only been one Emperor of the Imperium of Man, and he is even older than Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl. He was the one to unify the war bands of Terra under on banner 16,000 years ago. He was the leader of the Great Crusade in which he planned to reunite every lost colony of the last fallen human empire 11,000 years ago. He was the strongest being ever alive, with a single order he could force an entire army to kneel. Then came the Horus Heresy, the Emperor's most beloved son convinced eights of his twenty brothers to join him to overthrow their father. That was 10,000 years ago. Terra was sieged and the Emperor was forced to duel his own son, he hesitated to murder Horus. The arch-traitor did not hesitate and mortally wounded his father who is now sitting in the Golden Throne which is keeping his soul in this realm to help guide humanity."

Ozpin received a call from the Magos Dominus, this was going to be interesting. Pugnus greeted him, "It is nice to see you Ozpin, and my orbital scan has picked up a herd of Goliaths and lesser Grimm near Mountain Glenn. I called to see if the Adeptus Mechanicus is allowed to conduct orbital bombardment on the locations that are being sent to your assistant's scroll right now."

Professor Goodwitch was in the room but out of sight of the tech-priest corrected, "I am not his assistant. I am a professor at Beacon Academy."

The Magos Dominus ignored her statement, "What do you think about the proposition Ozpin?"

"No, I do not support any orbital bombardment to you taking _care_ of the hoard. The task will be assigned to a second year team for their mission which will begin in a few days," countered Ozpin.

Pugnus kept his cool and warned, "You have a lot of courage to defy me old man. I will hold you to your word, and if you go back on it I will mobilize my forces to quell the hoard.

Dominus Malleus Rubrum woke up, but that was extremely concerning. He did not remember going to sleep. Last he checked he was on a lost human colony and his VTOL craft was shot at by the locals. To avoid them being slain in the skies he ordered the pilot into a controlled 'crash' to fool the locals. Everything around him was pitch black, there was no source of natural light. Switching his mode of vision on his eyes, praise the Omnissiah for augmentations, he was able to see what was around him. Sixteen skitarii rangers were fully operation while nine were currently lying dead on the stone floor with cobwebs covering their corpse. All was quiet until a loud explosion came from the entrance, this was not good. Malleus' Volkite Blaster hummed to life as he waited.

-Is there a tech-priest by the name of Rubrum here? - called out a voice from the entrance.

The tech-priest questioned, -Who wants to know?-

-A fellow tech-priest. I am Magos Errant Verraeter from Forge World Graia. I am here to help, - stated the binary voice. Bless the machine god, they were saved! He ordered the remaining Skitarii to pick up the dead bodies of their comrades, most doubling up on a corpse with the Ranger Alpha taking on by himself. Dominus Malleus shut off his weapons as he led his patrol detachment out of the bunker. Once they reached the surface they say twelve Kataphron Destroyers armed with Plasma Culverins and Cognis Flamers standing in a semi-circle around them. The tech-priest stood behind them patiently, Malleus assumed he was the Magos Errant. Their colors were blood red and their armor was made out of brass. That is when he saw their icon he understood what was happening. He could not tell what forge world he belonged to but it was not Graia as he claimed.

-DEATH TO THE HERETEKS! - yelled the Dominus as he charged at the Magos Errant, if he even is one. His charge was silenced with a torrent of fire from the tainted cognis flamers. Magos Errant Verraeter watched as the loyalists were burned alive in front of him. This battle, if you can even it one, was only to remove some loose ends because he did not like the idea of a band of Skitarii Rangers and a tech-priest hiding in Atlas. His scroll rang and he quickly answered it in his altered human voice.

"Penny, why are you calling me? I told you I was busy with work," stated the tech-priest.

His daughter asked "Why did you not tell me about the trial dad?" If he knew it would have been this hard to raise a child he would not have made the A.I. think he was her dad.

The Magos Errant lied, "I was told by Ironwood not to tell you. I would have if I could, sweaty. I have to get back to work in a few minutes Penny. Remember, do not trust those tech-priest, they have plotted to kill you once and they might do it again. If they ever threaten you just tell me and I will see they are punished for it."

"Okay father, I will make sure to remember to do that," said the synthetic as she hang up on him. Verraeter thought that becoming a rogue tech-priest to study about A.I. would not have included acting as a highly experienced human scientist on a lost human colony. He expected to either be dead or running for his life with Chaos Cultists by now. That past in not important now, back to the task at hand. Is he able to take the information from the cogitators of the loyalist tech-priest, or were they destroyed by the fire.

 **Afterword: Magos Errant Verraeter is somewhere in between a rogue tech-priest and a Chaos tech-priest. His stance in the galaxy as a whole will be explained in later chapters. Also the rouge adepts and the witch's cult will not mesh perfectly together, there relations will be described in probably the next chapter.**


	15. Chapter 13(Edited)

**Reviews:**

 **Dovahsinn270: I do not accept bribes. Do not know what this review is for but I am not going to add any characters out of left field to Gleaming Giants. This goes for anyone interested, if you have anything to talk to be about adding OC to my current or future stories PM me, do not review.**

 **Forge Master 00: No Ordinatus will be featured in this story, the rogue tech-priest will not be as bad as a threat as you say. Interesting theory on the machine trinity. Thanks for the review.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Notes: After six chapters in two weeks I believe the side effects are catching up to me. Next few chapters will be spaced out. The battle scene is okay, I am going to be practicing writing them over the next few weeks.**

Chapter Thirteen: Wrath of the Omnissiah

It was currently 0300 hours, a unit of Infiltrators and one unit of Ruststalkers silently stood in the Vulture as it approached their target. Morale was high for them, Magos Biologis Nova stated that she had enough specimens of the local abhumans to keep herself amused. This means that the hostiles at their target were not need alive, their wrath will soon be unleashed. While it is not common for Sicarians to have battle cries, the Magos Dominus allows them to have a battle cry to inspire fear into their enemies for he doubts that their presence does not. The Princeps wish to correct this mistake.

The Vulture silently landed and the forty adepts quickly exited the craft. The Ruststalkers activated their null code as the sensory assault began. From inside the White Fang camp howls and screeches of pain could be heard, the Sicarians started running to their position. Faunus maybe able to see in the dark and have superior hearing capabilities than humans, but the Infiltrators were using that against them. Since they have more sensitive ears, the sensory assault works twice fold on them. The Infiltrator Princept proposed as he reached the gate to the camp, -The sensory assault could work as our battle cry.- The Rustalkers ignored him as they started to hack down the gate, their transonic razors moving thru the metal similar to a hot knife in butter.

With the gate fell off their hinges the twenty Rustalkers rushed forward in a frenzy killing every organism in sight. -NO PRISONERS! - yelled the Rustalkter Princept at the high his vox caster could handle. The Faunus terrorists did not put up a fight because they were busy remembering to breathe, their weapons sat at their side as they cradled their bleeding ears. The infiltrators followed behind the Rustalkers, their flechette blaster sent any survivors' soul to the warp. The few White Fang members that resisted their onslaught were torn to shreds by chordclaws. The Princeps new that the enemy would eventually create a method to contest against their current methods, but until the Magos Dominus plans to abuse this as much as possible.

With the White Fang Camp secured the Infiltrator Princept reported over the vox, -Sicarian Killclade Alpha to Command, we have secured the hostile camp. What are your further orders?-

After a long moment the Magos Dominus ordered, -I can assume that the White Fang, like the locals, believe were have done nothing after the death of Roman Torchwick. Align the corpses in the icon of our forge world.-

-I hear and obey, - responded the Princept, he knew the rest of his squad received data of the interesting project. The problem is if they have enough bodies to form a cog laurel around the icon.

Pyrrha Nikos stood silently as Professor Goodwitch and Dominus Ferrum stepped into the ring after her fight against team CRDL. Glynda commented, "And that's the match. Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." The student slightly nodded at her statement as she turned to face the robed figure, she could not see her face but she did not look amused.

"They are not here to qualify for the tournament Professor. They are here to train as hard as they can to defeat any and all of their enemies. Miss Nikos, the armor you are wearing is useless for it covers none of the common striking points and is too thin to block piercing attacks. Either make it useful or lose it. Next problem is your sash around your waist, it can be used to throw you off balance if grasped," corrected the Dominus. A few of the students seem shocked by her statements of the invincible girl, but nonetheless she continued, "Then there is your fame. Since there is a hefty amount of footage of you fighting, your enemies can watch it to study your fighting style and spot weaknesses. _Which there are_. Finally you have your semblance. You do not appear to use it to your fullest ability, which is if you even have one. The fact that you single handedly defeated an entire team is pointless if you remember that they are barely passing all of their classes and have no orders other than charge."

The teen appeared confused at the corrections, she rarely has anyone correct her that much. Some of the students got a little bit angry up at the Dominus. Ira stated, "While most of the problems lie in your _uniform_ and that you locals love the ideals of being unique and flashy you will probably disregard my advice. Your weapon skills are superior to most first years, but you tossed your shield as a projectile with no assurance of it returning to your grip. That is what the javelin is for, but since you locals all use mech-shift weapons and rely only on your weapon in combat you would not even think about use the javelin for that purpose. But that brings us to the topic of hand to hand combat in case if you lose your weapon. While the chances are low of that happening it should not be dismissed. Nobody is invincible Miss Nikos."

The bell rung alerting that the class was finally over, during the process of leaving the professor yelled, "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses" Team JNPR joined together after while exiting the classroom.

The team leader noticed that his partner looked down heartened after the verbal beating she received earlier. Jaune could not help but to ask, "You okay Pyr?"

"Yes. I am just thinking about what Dominus Ferrum said," replied the Spartan.

Nora jumped up as she suggested, "She is obviously jealous of you. I can break her legs if you want!" The pink bombshell ignored the comment her partner made that breaking someone's legs does not help the situation, silly Ren.

Glynda turned to the tech-priest and asked, "What do you have against Miss Nikos?"

"I have no ill will due to the fact that I cannot bear emotions," responded the Dominus. The professor gave her a weird look before she explained, "I have been augmented with emotional dampeners to help keep calm and focused during the heat of battle. When you would feel jubilant, I would feel mild satisfaction. When you are terrified, I would be slightly uneased. I have nothing against Miss Nikos, I am only reminding her the weakness of the flesh. The more advanced the student is the more miniscule are the errors, but they are still mistakes nonetheless."

Ozpin's lackadaisical methods were starting to bother the Magos Dominus. Logic calls to cut off anyone hurting his efficiency in conquering the planet and at the top of that list is that old man. His cogitators spent an hour trying to describe him in one word, they came up with was peacekeeper. A _Peacekeeper_. The word was foreign to his mind but it shows something obvious to the tech-priest. Headmaster Ozpin does not belong in the forty-first millennium. Reports came in about another Grimm hoard to the east of Vale beyond the mountains, maybe this time he will forget to inform the headmaster about his plan to exterminate the enemy.

Professor Goodwitch watched as halfway thru a class the Magos Dominus just leave the room without saying a word. Something is wrong but she would have to deal with that later, currently she had a class to deal with. In another classroom, Enginseer Precision moved from his spot in the corner and made his way for the door ignoring Doctor Oobleck's questions. Team RWBY were walking at the entrance of the school when they noticed that the soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus were ordering into columns. Once three of the tech-priest exited the school, Blake turned her attention from her book to them. She marched past Sun to ask them, "What is going on?"

Dominus Ferrum turned to face her as the two other tech-priest continued walking. "It does not concern you," explained Ira. The soldiers started to load into their VTOL craft but none of them took off yet.

The female Dominus started to walk away but Blake continued, "It does concern me that you are moving your entire army somewhere!"

"That is a falsehood. This is not our entire army," retorted Ira as she entered into one of the Vultures. The ramp closed behind her and the six VTOL craft took off and started to head east. The Faunus in hiding was glaring at the machines as they left.

The headmaster who was watching this quickly tuned into radio frequency 904.7 to find that a metallic voice stating, "Welcome back to the Adeptus Mechanicus News Station at 904.7 FM. Every two hours we report what has happened with the war against the White Fang. Sicarian Killclade Alpha has exterminated six White Fang Outposts in close proximity to the city of Vale. I will be reading the names of the known dead for the next half an hour. Starting with the first camp…Who forgot to alphabetize the names! What do you mean it was my job? That is a job for a servitor, and not a tech-priest! Sorry about that ladies and gentlemen, here are the names we have so far. Lian Pink, Erik Blau, Inge Viola, Anton Coral, Hilda Lavender..." The metallic voice kept stating more names as he wondered where the entire fleet of VTOL craft were going.

Dominus Decium glanced outside the window to see a hoard of one hundred Beowolves, twenty Ursa, six Nevermore, and six Deathstalkers. The pilot informed him, -Dominus, Atlesian Bullhead head spotted following us. Orders?-

-Let them bask in the glory of the Omnissiah's Wrath! - ordered Quin. The first two Vulture landed down and released their cargo. The neutron laser Onager variant fired a salvo into a Deathstalker destroying of its claws, the icarus array Onager was faring better with a single Nevermore down in six seconds flat. A wave of twenty Skitarii Vanguards and twenty Skitarii Rangers surged forward to form a wall of flesh and metal to protect the precious Onagers. Their galvanic rifles barked in unison as they fired into the Beowolves. One Vulture deployed to the left flank of the hoard while another to the right, with twenty-four Kataphrons on the left and twelve Kastelans on the right supported by Cyber.

The Grimm's simple minds could not comprehend their problem. A wave of superheated Phosphex, energy, and gravity altering material tore into their flanks, but the hoard ignored them in favor for Skitarii wall standing in the path of their charge. Cyber used his auspex scanners to find that close to half of the Beowolves and Ursa were already slain with five Deathstalkers protected by a wave of lesser Grimm and five Nevermore circling above the hoard preventing close air support. The battle was turning into their favor. The final two Vultures landed, the first VTOL dropped off the other tech-priest were behind the Onagers watching the battle same as him. The second Vulture was behind the hoard deploying eighteen Sydonian Dragoons and six Ironstriders that were waiting to close the kill box. The formation is a basic tactic used against Orks, funnel them into the heavy weapons while fast moving forces flank them until they are enveloped. Once encircled they stood no chance. Three VTOL craft baited an avian Grimm to fly out of formation to give the Onager, armed with the Icarus array, simple target practice.

The Breachers shifted their fire onto the Deathstalkers as the hoard entered the rapid fire range of the Galvanic Rifles. The Rangers and the Kastelans combined their fire into a volley that eliminated all of the Beowolves in holy fury. With their meat shields were gone the extermination of the last ten Ursa, due to the Vanguards and Destroyers, was simple. But sadly there was not enough time to slay them all. Four unhurt Deathstalkers smashed into the wall of flesh and metal, while one of the Nevermore got a lucky hit on a Vultures. Cyber activated the Conqueror Protocols on the unit of battle-automata armed with Incendine Combustors and Kastelan Fists. Without an order the six Kastelans rushed into the melee flanking the remaining Grimm. He couldn't help but to laugh as he saw the robots rip the nearest scorpion Grimm to shreds as the Sydonian Dragoons skewered another. Anything that was not in melee was acting as anti-aircraft, it is easy to say that they did not last long.

Dominus Ferrum, Dominus Decium, Enginseer Eights, and Enginseer Precision charged into the fray. The final Deathstalker was already busy with the Skitarii, who attempted to beat it with the stock of their weapons, and did not see the four tech-priest approaching fast. Usually a Dominus would pull their forces out of melee, but they had to hold their current position to keep the Onagers safe from harm. Quin and Precision worked together to find gaps in between the creature's bone plate armor for the Skitarii to focus. Eight and Ira teamed up to destroy the multiple eyes with their pistols. The two main eye were ruptured, leaving the Deathstalker blind to its attackers.

With enough blunt force trauma the creature was finally dead. The Enginseers completed a quick headcount of the dead, eight Skitarii Vanguards and ten Skitarii Rangers. Some of their augmentations could be saved for future converts. Eight and Precision moved to the lightly damaged Vulture to conduct field repair, while the reaming Skitarii moved their comrades corpses near them to load into the VTOL after it could fly again. The two patrol detachments of soldiers slowly entered into their designated Vultures silent as the corpses of the Grimm finally faded into nothingness.

General Ironwood watched the replay of the battle closely, he had his subordinates take notes on anything and everything. The main theory that came up is that none of the Adeptus Mechanicus soldiers are alive. They fired their weapons on the same frame of the video, they walked in perfect synchronization, they do not flinch when one of their comrades is killed, and they were never seen eating or sleeping while at Beacon. The only fact keeping this a theory is that they bleed blood and oil. When the Deathstalker crashed into their lines he could hear shrieks of static, which he assumes that they are expressing emotion. But no one has ever hear anyone besides the tech-priest talk. His personal belief is that they lie in between human soldier and androids, similar to the tech-priest but with less personality.

Cinder was in her dorm room, sewing a black dress as she sat on her bed. Emerald was sitting on the floor while looking at her Scroll, and Mercury was lying on the ground while reading a comic book. The leader asked, "What did you find out about the Adeptus Mechanicus so far?"

"Three days ago all of their leaders left Vale to, and I quote, _'conduction important discussions that could change the maps of this world within the week'_. When I asked him if they plan to invade one of the kingdoms he gave no comment, but it was also the day they started attacking the White Fang Outpost near Vale," reported the mint haired thief.

Mercury commented, "All of their soldiers left Vale toward and headed east without giving any reason at the time. Rumor has it that they are keeping true to their promises five days ago about fighting the Grimm. When they returned they had minimal casualties. I believe it was just a pack Beowolves, others say it was a large hoard with Deathstalkers and Ursa. It is probably the rust buckets spreading rumors to boost their popularity."

"They want people to see them as their savior, when they are weaker than Atlas. Add any high profile Adeptus Mechanicus members to the list," ordered the false maiden.

" _You_ should be able to take any of them with no problem," remarked the gray haired teen.

Cinder corrected him, "It's not about overpowering the enemy. It's about taking away what power they have…And we will, in time." He scoffed as he went back to lying on the floor. His superior reassured him, "Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us."

Magos Errant Verraeter watched the recordings General Ironwood sent him, with a simple order attached to it. _'Duplicate their technology.'_ How ironic, he found out how to replicate a few basic weapons of the Imperium with dust and other materials. For example Galvanic Rifles, Radium Carbines, Lasguns, and others. But all of the weapons are significantly weaker than the original version, and only work on the surface because dust loses loses all properties when in space.While Doctor Polendina is a subordinate of the General, but Magos Errant Verraeter was _free_. He was bound to no one. No false god, no corrupt official, or cultist can order him around. In his 261 years of living he was only a free man for 72 years. He had connections to every kind of organization on this beautiful planet. The adepts of Metalica have already tainted it with their presence, and they obviously want to turn it into another forge world like their own. Devoid of any signs of life or organisms other than the augmented flesh.

The combination of metal and flesh is abhorrent to the Magos Errant, he did not want to waste the half alive bodies of White Fang members. In his eyes only something complete machine or completely flesh can be holy and pure. For example the Omnissiah is pure while the False Incarnation is impure for her is an altered being of flesh, similar to his twenty sons. Humanity is superior to the filthy xenos and abhumans, but why exterminate them when they can work as meat shields or forced labor. He left the Imperium because he was not a traitor, he left because he could see the correct path while the dogmatic toaster fuckers were too busy working as slaves for the False Incarnation. Who knows, maybe he can teach one of the younger tech-priest that have come this beautiful planet.

 **Edit (3/28/19): Major fixes to the Magos Errant Verraeter section. Thanks to deathgrips099 for pointing out my mistake**

 **APRIL FOOLS SPECIAL: Do y'all want to be able to ask the characters questions, attempt at humor, or do something else. I got a few ideas but I want to hear from you guys cause.**


	16. April Fools' Day Special

**Reviews:**

 **Greatserb56: Toaster are a given in this chapter/special. Thanks for the review!**

 **DeathGrips099: To be honest I did not plan out the Rouge Tech-Priest as much as I should have done. His name is literally traitor in German because I originally planned for him to be a cultist. Thanks for pointing out my mistake, and it has been corrected. I should add RWBY and JNPR more, but I do not know how. I did not want to just copy and paste the entire script from the show, but now that the story is deviating from cannon they will come into the light more. As for Ruby joining the Ad Mech, it might happen. There is a little bit more of team RWBY and JNPR in this chapter. Next chapter will be Dance Dance Infiltration with will have Ruby for sure, but she is going to be overshadowed by the Ad Mech. That is Pugnus' plan after all, make the citizens of Remnant view the Ad Mech as superior to the huntsmen and Atlas Military. Which will be accomplished by him swooping into every time they are doing and one upping them, I could write how team RWBY gets angry at them. But team JNPR does not seem the kind of team that would be upset about that, maybe Nora but Ren would shut here up with pancakes. I will take any and all advice from the readers on this.**

 **Forge Master 00: When you mention Rose for some reason I can only think about the Angry Marines, don't know why thou. I suspect someone has tampered with my cogitators. Keep you purge code inactive, do not want you to damage your cogitators while overclocking all systems to burn the heretek in holy fire.**

 **Notes: I have no bloody clue on how to edit chapters after I post them, that is why the last chapter might be messed up. If you want anything added to the next special, just pm me or leave a review when I announce the next one. There will be multiple 4th wall breaks and references, if you understand them good for you. I had a lot of fun writing this special (that is why it is so long), hopefully you have as much fun reading it as well.**

April Fools' Special

A tech-priest was sitting in his office when he got a call from the surface at three in the morning. He introduced himself, "This is Magos Dominus Pugnus Rubrum speaking who is this?"

A deep human voice responded, "This is Jake from Patch. I was wondering if your cogitator was running."

"My cogitators are running perfectly fine," informed Pugnus. He could hear snickers from the other side.

"THEN YOU BETTER GO CATCH IT!" yelled Jake as he hung up the phone. The Magos Dominus stared awkwardly at the vox before ordering a tech-priest to secure the holy machines.

As Ruby ended the call she could see Dominus Ferrum laughing her heart out. She caught her planning a prank for April fools, when she asked why the crimson teen explained the holiday to her. The tech-priest informed the other tech-priest on Remnant before they both initiated a prank call on the Magos Dominus.

Cyber was halfway thru polishing the Kastelans when he realized something terrible happened. He forgot to refuel their phosphex canister, and now they were empty! With no other options he contacted a comrade, -Hey Quin, do you happen to have any spare phosphex? The Kastelans are out of fuel.-

-I have perfectly enough for your pleasure robots Cyber, - responded the Dominus.

The Datasmith yelled into his vox caster, -THEY ARE BATTLE AUTOMATA AND IT IS MY JOB TO LOVE AND CHERISH THEM!-

A loud binary screech woke Ozpin up from his midday nap in his office. He checked the security cameras to see a Cybernetica Datasmith breathing heavily while standing near his robots, and one of the tech-priest having a squad of Skitarii carrying unlabeled canisters to the landing pads. Once Dominus Decium reached Cyber, the soldiers poured the liquids into the Kastelans. The Datasmith was setting up targets on the far side of the landing pads. -Now that they are resupplied all we need to do is calibrate the targeting systems, - explained the Datasmith as he ordered the robots to open fire.

Instead of holy superheated purging phosphex pouring out at a high enough rate to shred any forms of cover, bubbles came out. _Bubbles._ He turned to see the tech-priest laughing with his squad of Skitarii Rangers. Instead of yelling at them, he activated the Conqueror Protocols on all twelve of the Kastelans.

Dominus Ferrum and Ruby's planning was halted when they heard a loud and fast knocking at the door. The student opened the door to see a scared and shaking form of Tech-Priest Dominus Quin Decium. He quickly explained his presence, "I pranked Cyber by replacing the Kastelan's ammunition with bathroom soap. Also all boys bathroom on the first and second floor are out of soap by mysterious reasons."

"Then why are you running around the school?" asked Ruby. Before the tech-priest could answer, the loud steps of the Kastelan Robots could be heard and they were approaching fast. Ira started praying for her comrade as the automata came into view behind Quin. The Dominus pushed Ruby into the path of the bloody thirsty robots as he dove out of the window. Sadly he forgot to check the height and too looked before he jumped. The twelve Kastelans marched thru the dorm room following the doomed tech-priest out the window. Ruby promised from outside of the room, "Somebody is going to pay for that." Thankfully her aura protected her from death by trampling.

Professor Goodwitch watched as the Cybernetica Datasmith approached her, he seemed pissed for some reason. He explained, "I have been pranked today by Dominus Decium. I need access to the cameras to find him. He will be punished."

"What is in it for me?" questioned Glynda.

Cyber proposed, "My twelve Kastelans will patrol the school and will apprehend any _prankster_. You can rest in your office while I bring the students to you to be punished." She handed him her scroll as he plugged on of his metal tentacle things into the port. He was silent for a moment before stating, "I have found fifth teen pranksters already, sending the Kastelans to capture them."

Ten minutes later, Cyber was standing in front of the offending Dominus and his five Skitarii followers. -Skitarii, I know that you were following orders. If you give a statement in court against the Dominus you will have immunity to all charges.-

-Roger roger, - replied the Skitarii Ranger Alpha-0056 as the Ranger Squad kneeled before the Cybernetica Datasmith. He finally had the power he craved. Two Rangers grabbed Quin by his arms and started to drag him to Professor Goodwitch's office for sentencing.

Cardin and his team were holding a special gift he had for the other students. Most people would see them as water balloons filled with dye, but he saw them as swift justice. Team CRDL silently walked towards the door the cafeteria to enact their plan. That was until they opened to door to stand face to face, or was it face to chest plate, with one of the giant robots. "Shit," was all Cardin could say before the Kastelan's fist swung into his head, knocking him out.

Ruby and Dominus Ferrum stood in the remains of the student dorm, neither knowing what to do next. The rest of team RWBY entered the room, or what was left of it, breaking the silence. "What happened here?" questioned Weiss.

"It was not me!" yelled Ruby as she hid behind the tech-priest.

Yang glared at the robed figure until Ira explained, "Dominus Decium pranked Cyber. The Datasmith sent twelve four meter tall automata to hunt him down. Quin tried to hide in here, but was found out. He jumped out and the twelve Kastelans followed, now you can have a nice breeze if you leave the door open."

Blake informed them, "That explains the giant robots patrolling the school and arresting anyone attempting to prank someone." Ruby's eyes went wide with shock as the light emitting from under Ira's hood changed from a light blue to a blood red.

"How do you feel about getting revenge on Cyber for destroying your dorm and this holy holiday?" asked the Dominus as she laid out the prank she and Ruby was planning earlier.

After an extensive inspection, Pugnus was confident to say the cogitators were secured and would not be running away. He was still curious as to how Jake from Patch knew that his machines were loose, but he will thank him when he returns to the surface nonetheless. That is when he received a report from a Cybernetica Datasmith, -Magos Dominus, Dominus Decium has been apprehended after replace the phosphex in my Kastelans with soap. The civilians seem to be infected with a plague that compels them to prank other civilians.-

After searching for the definition in his cogitators he asked, -Does that mean Jake from Patch was trying to prank me?-

-Magos Dominus, there is nobody named Jack from Patch, - explained Cyber. The Datasmith could he sworn he heard crying from the other side of the vox, but that was probably just static.

After the crying/static stopped, Pugnus ordered, -You have my full support to arrest any pranksters. I will send reinforcements to the surface via drop pod. We must cure them of the disease, anima shield us!-

Team RWBY and Dominus Ferrum finished with their plan, all they need now was the supplies. The list included glue, glitter, feathers, rope, and spray paint. Five items and five people, a perfect fit. Ira reasoned, "The only logical item I could acquire without being suspicious is the adhesive. I will take a Skitarii squad with me to help carry supplies. If I was Cyber I would not be surprised if Ruby got the glitter, Blake the rope, and Yang having spray paint. That leaves Weiss to the feathers. Good luck comrades, may the Omnissiah guide you." The tech-priest quickly left the room thru the Kastelan shaped hole before any of the students could question her.

The Faunus commented, "Why would Cyber think I would have rope?"

"Maybe he found out about your kink?" joked the blonde of the team.

The team leader asked, "What is a kink?"

Yang realized that she had messed up and changed the topic, "Time to get spray paint!" The bombshell followed Ira by jumping out of what was left of the window, her weapons fired to prevent her moment from breaking the pavement. Blake and Weiss soon followed with their ribbon and semblance respectively.

Ruby was left alone in the dorm with three walls as she yelled into the void, "What is a kink!"

In the depths of Emerald Forest, a pure black drop pod with a red 'I' painted on the side crashed into one of the trees breaking the silence of the empty woods. Unfortunate for the person in the craft, the fall did not fully break the tree but left the drop pod a long distance from the ground. The door to the pod was opened with a forceful kick from the occupant, his cargo in the craft started to fall out of the door and break once they hit the forest floor. -FOR THE LOVE OF THE OMNISSIAH! NOT THE TOASTER! - screeched the augmented being in the vehicle.

Ozpin watched from the camera as the robots under Cyber's command were detaining his students that were pranking people, to only bring them to Professor Goodwitch. The only notable people that are detained were team CRDL and Dominus Decium. Team RWBY and Dominus Ferrum were planning the resistance against their oppressors, he would be interested to see how that turns out. Professor Oobleck and Port did express their support of the girls to Ozpin, but they will not support in action in fear of the fourteen foot tall automata patrolling the school.

The Cybernetica Datasmith was examining the students that he had in quarantine thoroughly. None shown any signs any signs of infection that was apparent, besides committing a prank. None of them answered to his questioning about them being diseased, which was exceptionally concerning. He had dubbed the sickness the Prank Pox. Cyber left the quarantine area and headed to the improvised prison, an empty dorm with metal bars on the windows and doors, which was guarded by the five skitarii rangers. Upon seeing the Datasmith, the Alpha Ranger opened the door letting the figure inside the cell.

Dominus Decium woke up in chains to see Cyber standing in front of him, even without a face he could see that he was annoyed. -Traitor, how were you infected with the Prank Pox? - asked the Datasmith.

Quin countered, -You would deem me an enemy over a meaningless prank?-

-You have given into the curses of the Plague Lord, there is no other explanation to you being infected with the Prank Pox, - clarified Cyber. The tech-priest in chains laughed at his assessment.

Quin corrected, -Today is April 1st in the local's calendar. For them today holds a holiday called April Fools' Day. It is required to prank someone today. There is no Prank Pox, and there is no heresy he…-

A loud voice outside the window cut the tech-priest off, -DID SOMEONE SAY HERESY?!- The person who owns the voice jumped into the room thru the barred window and pointed his flamer at the two adepts in the room. Cyber noticed hidden amongst the black robes was a symbol of an 'I' with a half mechanical skull in the center of it.

He introduced himself, -Nobody expects the Martian Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise. Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency. Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Omnissiah. Our four...no...Amongst our weapons... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise... I'll come in again. - The tech-priest inquisitor leap back out of the window leaving the two adepts from Metalica confused.

Dominus Decium continued where he left off, -As I was saying, there is no heresy here.-

The tech-priest inquisitor leap back into the room from the window screeching, -Nobody expects the Martian Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Omnissiah, and nice black uniforms. Oh damn! I can't say it, you'll have to say it. - A servo-skull bearing the same symbol as the tech-priest inquisitor moved from behind his back into the view of Cyber and Quin.

-Tech-Priest Inquisitor Cyberdong, you have already wrecked the plan numerous times. Skip the introduction and move on, or are you not fit for your recent promotion? - threatened the servo-skull. The tech-priest inquisitor (TPI) shuddered at the thought of losing his new rank, he would become the laughing stock of the Adeptus Mechanicus!

Cyberdong questioned, -Which one of you is the heretek? - The two other cyborgs in the room looked at each other before turning back to the Inquisitor.

-There is no hereteks here. Dominus Decium was joining in a local holiday called April Fools' Day, - clarified Cyber. The TPI moved his glare to the imprisoned tech-priest asking him without a word to explain.

Quin retold what happened, -April Fools' Day is a holiday where you prank another. I replaced the Phosphex in the Kastelan Robots with soap. The Cybernetica Datasmith then proceeded to send the twelve automata to hunt me down.-

-Where is the Phosphex now? - asked Cyberdong. Both of the tech-priest shrugged, the writer of the story had no idea where to put the superheated liquid. The TPI continued, -Did we just break the fourth wall, and is the author too lazy to type tech-priest inquisitor?-

Cyber pointed to the window and yelled, -Daemon spotted in that direction tech-priest inquisitor! Defeating it might secure your promotion. - Without hesitation Cyberdong jumped out the window dual wielding flamers, we would drown the warp spawn in holy fire. Once he was gone, the Datasmith released Quin and helped him unto his feet as he explained, -If you would have explained to me about the holiday earlier I would have gladly joined in the pranking.-

-I was too busy running for my life from the twelve Kastelan Robots, - retorted the Dominus as the both walked out of the improvised prison. Quin looked down the hallway and saw a sight that made him laugh, Cyber confused by what was happening turned to see what his comrade saw. Oh boy he regretted turned down the hallway. With precious, pure, blameless, clean Kastelan Robots were tied together with rope and all of them were covered in multicolored feathers, glitter, and the phrase _'LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE!'_ was spray painted to the closest wall. The joints in his power fist cracked at the pressured he applied to them.

Cyber corrected himself, -On second thought Quin, I am going to put my power fist to good use today.- Team RWBY and Dominus Ferrum watched, hidden inside the crowd of students and teachers, as the Cybernetica Datasmith slowly walked up to his robots. Ira noticed that his hands were shaking violently as he kneeled down before the nearest automata. Cyber's light blue augmented eyes changed to dark red as he turned to face the crowd. His gamma pistol barked, turning the rope to dust. The vandalized automata slowly stood up and formed a line facing the crowd with the Datasmith behind them with his red eyes.

"LAY WASTE TO THE CROWD!" raved the mad man as the robots followed his order, slowly raising their heavy phosphor blasters aiming at the civilians that now registered as hostiles. The students and teachers had no idea what to do, some reached for their weapons that were not there while some were frozen in place by fear.

Ira commented as she activated her refractor field, -Never thought I would die in a school on a feudal world, I expected to be at least over one hundred year old and on a worthless ball of dirt. Whelp, glory to the Omnissiah.-

Enginseer Eights was currently with the ginger from team JNPR planning to prank the other Enginseer, both were blissfully unaware of the conflict on the other side of the school. Eights just wanted to annoy him while Nora hated Precision for helping Oobleck in class to give more homework to the class. They had to write an essay about the difference between the Adeptus Mechanicus and Vale, while their only source of information was from what Precision said in class! "How about we break his legs?" suggested Nora as she raised her giant hammer.

"His legs are metal it would do nothing," explained Eights as the ginger pouted a little. He recover himself, "I can do you one better, what if we steal his legs?"

Nora then asked the important question, "How do we steal his legs without him knowing?"

"How about when he is giving a speech, I will say I am calibrating his leg joints only just to steal them." answered the tech-priest. Her jade eyes were suddenly filled with mischief as Eights activated his servo-arm with malicious intent.

The entire crowd tensed as the loud clacks of the robot's weapons being racked broke the silence. That was until bubbles came out of the menacing weapons, behind the wall of metal Cyber was rolling on the floor while coughing. It took the student longer than it should have to realize he was laughing. The datasmith stood up while giggling and brushed himself off. "You have just been pranked!" yelled the Datasmith at the various confused students.

"War crimes do not count as pranks. A prank is what my team did to your robots," taunted Yang from the crowd. Her teammates turned to her and gave a 'what the fuck' look. Cyber without hesitation rushed into the crowd, trying his best to move faster amongst the many students to catch team RWBY who quickly escaped the crowd and started to flee.

Blake informed their purser, "You know that Dominus Ferrum helped us right?" The Datasmith turned to face Ira and pointed his gamma pistol at her.

"Get back here you backstabbing abhuman!" yelled the female tech-priest as she chased after the Faunus thru the halls, while Cyber chased after her. Professor Goodwitch was watching the entire confrontation on his scroll from her office, she did not know which side to support. Her students that vandalized the school and military equipment, or the mad man who ordered his robots to fire upon civilians as a joke. At least she hoped it was for a joke and not because he forgot to resupply his troop's ammo.

Team JNPR entered Doctor Oobleck's classroom as Enginseer Eights waited outside for the signal. The teacher stood informed the class, "Today, Enginseer Precision has been kind enough to give us a more in depth history of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Please respect him while he is giving his speech." A large portion of the class groaned as the tech-priest walked up to the speaking area. Nora let out her special sloth cry, signaling Enginseer Eights to enter the room.

-What are you doing here Eights? - asked Precision.

The Enginseer in question answered, "The Magos Dominus has ordered me to conduct calibrations of the leg joints in all tech-priest due to Dominus Decium's joints failing him earlier today. You can continue with you speech, it should not be long." Precision was confused why he answered in low gothic but ignored questioning him, he was students to teach about the holy light of the Omnissiah!

Precision started his speech, "In M15 during the Age of Technology, Mars was the first world to be colonized by the new and young human empire. All records of the name of the empire have been either lost or destroyed. The human empire continued to grow until M25, when the Age of…" The loud and obnoxious sound of welding over shadowed his story, making the students unable to hear him. Ren noticed that Nora was not asleep during the speech as she usually would, she must be planning something with Eights. The Enginseer called for the other, "Eights." He did not reply, but continued to weld. Precision tried again, "Eights…Eights! EIGHTS!"

The tech-priest looked up from his kneeling position and asked as he mimicked eating a carrot, "What's up doc?"

"Could you keep the noise down?" suggested the standing Enginseer. Eights ignored the statement and continued to calibrate his joints.

He continued his speech, "The Age of Strife, the human empire collapsed with terrifying swiftness. Their worlds were infected with anarchy, enslavers, betrayal of the A.I., and other heretical actions. Under the Old Night, Mars expanded. The entire planet was unified under the Cult Mechanicus, after that they reached for the stars to set up new colonies, and find lost technology. But due to…complications, they only reached the edges of Segmentum Solar. Then came the Mars Treaty, where…what are you doing?!"

Eights swiftly pushed the upper half of Precision causing his to fall to the floor as he held his legs. The entire class gasped at what happened, and the students that fell asleep were quickly woken by their teammates. "Have a happy April Fools' Day mate!" answered the Enginseer as he ran out of the classroom with the fresh pair of legs in tow. The upper half of Precision crawled after the prankster. Ren would have to scold Nora later about stealing someone's legs, but right now he was too busy trying not to laughing.

Team RWBY was approaching a t-intersection in the halls, from the right they saw Enginseer Eights running to the left with a pair of legs? Yang sprinted up the tech-priest and asked, "Where did you get a pair of legs?"

Eights explained, "Stole them from Precision as he was giving a speech in Doctor Oobleck's class. Why are you running?"

Ruby shouted, "We covered the giant robots with feathers and glitter after the ruined our dorm while chasing Quin. We had help from Ira."

-So Dominus Decium's joints did fail him earlier today. Neat, - commented the Enginseer to himself as he glance behind him. The tech-priest saw, from closest to farthest, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Dominus Ferrum, Cyber, and Enginseer Eights. This holiday sure is insane, but thank the Omnissiah that there is not servants of the Changer of Way here. That would have been the closest thing to a daemon world outside of the warp. Once Eights looked forward he saw the most unholy sight imaginable. Dozens of smashed and defiled toaster littering the hallway. The author apologizes for not giving a warning in advance about scenes with extreme amounts of gore.

The chase was stopped when a blacked robed figure jumped down from the ceiling screeching, "Nobody expects the Martian Inquisi-" That was until he face planted into the floor, his servo-skull slowly followed him down from the ceiling. Yang, Weiss, Blake ignored the floating skull and continued to run.

"Is he alive?" Ruby asked anyone is listening. All of the tech-priest reached up to her, but they were all too busy weeping over the broken toasters.

The floating skull commented, "Hopefully he is dead, then I do not have to watch over his retarded ass. He is _special_ forces after all." Ruby was creeped out that it could talk, but she decided against staying to ask questions. Instead she used her semblance to catch up with her team. Precision managed to grab his legs after Eights dropped them to cradle the remains of the nearest toaster. Cyber replaced his rage against Ira and team RWBY to whoever is responsible for harming these blessed machines. Dominus Ferrum forgot about the backstabbing abhuman as she attempted to repair one of the many toasters lost in the line of combat.

Doctor Oobleck was forced to cancel class because he relied on Precision to teach the class, and maybe he had nothing planned but no one can prove that. Team JNPR were calmly walking to their dorms, until Ren asked, "Nora, did you assist in the prank against the Enginseer to get us out of a speech?"

"Maayyybee," replied the ginger as she tried to act innocent. Key word is tried.

Ren sighed as he explained, "Nora. It is not nice to steal people's legs. I will give you a pass because it is April Fools', but do not expect to get away scotch free next time."

"Hey, Eights came up with the idea of stealing the legs!" retorted Nora.

Jaune commented, "Speaking of the tech-priests, is that them over there crying over old toasters?" His team stopped walking and slowly turned around to see that their leader was correct in his statement. Nora noted that Precision reattached his metal legs. Pyrrha could see tears rolling down Dominus Ferrum's face, but Ren was more concerned about the floating skull glaring at the unconscious figure dressed in black and red.

"How about we continue walking and act like this did not happen?" suggested the team leader as they all slowly and quietly walked away from the confusing mess they happened upon.

Once they got around the corner Nora complained, "Precision got his legs back before I could break them."

Ren reassured her, "That is okay, you can have pancakes when we reach our dorm."

Team RWBY made it back to the safety of their dorm, to which they were surprised had been repaired to have four walls. All of them when for their beds and collapsed after their tiring work. Yang was the first to break the silence, "Hey Rubes, how were you able to escape the cyborgs when to stayed behind to check on the guy who fell from the ceiling?"

Ruby countered, "What is a kink?"

"You will find out when you get older," deflected the blonde.

The team leader explained, "For some reason all of the tech-priest started to cry over the broken toasters and ignored the black robed figure that got knocked unconscious."

"Doesn't that seem weird to any of you? They show no emotion at all to humans or Faunus, but when a worthless machine is broken they weep as if they are at a funeral." commented the heiress.

The crimson teen guessed, "Maybe it is because of their jobs? Eights told me that it is his job as a tech-priest to repair 'blessed' machines."

Blake went on a tangent, "They are a cult I tell you! They care more for robots than they do people! Did any of you listen into their public radio frequency where they read all of the names of the Faunus they have KILLED! THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO ANYTHING HERE BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FROM HERE!" The room was tense after her rant, nobody knew what to say or they did not want to say what came to mind.

Magos Dominus stood at the altar in the chapel on his flag ship. He announced to the crowd of adepts in front of him, -I have just received news from the surface that all of the toasters sent to resupply them have been destroyed on landing. This is a dark time indeed, I order a silent time to mourn for our recently lost machine spirits for seventeen hours.-

 **Ideas: Thanks to Deathgrips099 for recently promoted Tech-Priest Inquisitor Cyberdong. I will take all ideas for the next special which will be for Easter.**

 **DISCLAIMER: This chapter is NOT canon to the story, but I will make reference to the specials in future chapters that will not affect the main plot of the story. Also, no toasters were harmed in the making of this special.**


	17. Chapter 14

**Reviews:**

 **Guest (First One): Glad to see that you had enjoyment due to the special. Yes I know it was a day early, I finished it on May 30th. The sooner I got it out to you the faster I could get onto the next chapter.**

 **Guest (Second One): Great to see that you had some laughs because of the skits, I can always augment your brain so that you don't feel if needed.**

 **Guest (Third One): Hopefully you can fix your computer after that crash. I did design the special to be like that, I made a note to myself to 'make it tzeentch's wet dream'.**

 **Forge Master 00: While I do not support giving the abhumans our technology, even if it is designed to kill the user, because they can use the remain of the weapon to try to replicate it. But since Rose is protected by the Angry Marines, no charges will be pressed. I am surprised how her disguise worked against the abhumans, the Sicarian Killclade might adopt that doctrine in the future. Also you have all the rights to use Magos Explorator Double Null in anything that you write. Glad to have an experienced reviewer here.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possesed**

 **Notes: Now that we are back to the canon part of the story, the plot is finally going to get moving! I lied when I said were are on Dance Dance Infiltration, we are starting half way thru Burning the Candle instead. I am going to try to focus on team RWBY and team JNPR in this chapter, that does not mean that there will be no Ad Mech.**

Chapter Fourteen: Feudals

Sounds of anguish, torture, maniacal laughter, and power saws could be heard from Magos Biologis Nova's laboratory. Completely unrelated, the recent shipment of specimens from the surface have disappeared. Pugnus had received an idea from an unknown comrade from Mars that he planned to put into action against the enemies of mankind, at least that is all he told Nova. She was left in the dark about why her unique orders could help the Adeptus Mechanicus forces, but the Magos Biologis was given an opportunity to study how the local abhuman species function. The Faunus were crying out in pain and agony as Nova begun the operations, they screamed about war crimes and mercy. They did not need their eyes or animal traits anyway, for the Magos Dominus had need for at least eighteen of them.

Blake was pacing around in the empty classroom as Yang sat on the teacher's desk. "Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath," pleaded the Faunus.

Her partner calmly corrected her, " I don't want you to stop; I want you to slow down."

"I _don't_ have the luxury to slow down," spat out the Faunus with irritation laced in her voice.

"It's not a luxury; it's a necessity," corrected Yang

Blake finally turned to face her partner, the bags under her eyes were apparent, "The _necessity_ is stopping whatever the White Fang and the Adeptus Mechanicus are planning."

The blonde's eyes flared red at the mention of the metallic aliens. Yang spat out thou her gritted teeth, "They need to be stopped." She took a deep breath to remain calm before continuing, "But first you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say." Blake looked off into the distance, were face was full of thought. She relents and sat on the desk without a word.

Her partner started to regal her story, "Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal, and our mom took on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose, and she was, like…Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then…one day she left for a mission and never came back. It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but…I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know? And my dad just kind of…shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost; she was the second. The first... was my mom. He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a team together with Summer and Qrow, and that she'd left me with him right after I was born. No one had seen her since."

"Why did she leave you?" interrupted Blake.

"That question... Why?" answered Yang as she got off the desk and moved to the chalkboard. She continued her story, "I didn't know an answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about what they knew about her. Then, one day, I found something. What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother.I waited for Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must've walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, I was totally exhausted, but I wasn't gonna let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn't care; I had made it. And then I saw them. Those _burning_ red eyes…here we were: A toddler sleeping in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time. My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night."

"Yang... I'm sorry that happened to you, and I understand what you're trying to tell me, but this is different. I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers! I can't just-" retorted the Faunus.

The blonde cut her off, "I _told_ you: I'm not telling you to stop! I haven't! To this day, I _still_ want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?"

Blake raised her voice at her partner, "You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!"

Yang snapped around on her heels, her eyes were a bright crimson red, "No, _you_ don't understand! If the White Fang or the Adeptus Mechanicus walked through that door, what would you do?"

Both students were not standing as the Faunus answered, "I'd fight them!"

"You'd lose!" yelled the blonde as she shoved her partner onto the table.

Blake retaliated with a weak one handed push, that did not make Yang move, while raising her voice even more, "I can stop them!"

Yang started to lower her voice as she shoved her partner over the table and onto the floor, "You can't even stop me." The hidden Faunus weekly looked up to face her partner as she left the room, "I'm not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest. Not just for you, but for the people you care about. And if you feel like coming out tomorrow, I'll save you a dance."

Jaune Arc was walking around the school a day before the dance, he was looking for his Snow Angel to ask her out. That was when he heard a familiar voice, "I know this is a little unorthodox, but…I wanted to ask you something. Would you…like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?" Arc's heart hit the ground before the rose that was in his hand did.

Inside team JNPR's dorm, Ren could tell that Pyrrha was lost in thought while she looked out of the window. Nora was busy with listening to music while reading her book, and Jaune has not returned from trying to woo Weiss which would inevitably fail. "What is on your mind Pyrrha?" asked the only male in the room.

"I am still thinking about what Dominus Ferrum said to me last time in combat class. Was it out of jealousy or actual corrections? I have not seen any of the tech-priest showing emotions, which makes it hard to get a read on their personality. Should I ask her about it or leave it be? Will it happen again or was this a one time thing?" vented the redhead. Ren took a moment to process the information, there were a lot of variables at play here.

He thought out loud, "If you leave it alone it might become a larger problem later or nag at your brain. Ignoring the problem would have the same effect. You could confront her about it, but that might have negative results. Then again, you can always talk to Professor Goodwitch about it to see if she can clear up the problem."

Pyrrha smiled as she turned to face Ren, "Thanks for the advice Ren, I will talk to the Professor tomorrow. Right now it is almost curfew, and Jaune has yet to return…" With the mention of her partner, her smile faded away as she took a glance at the door before entering under her sheets. He knew that if she did not make a move that Jaune would never see her as more than a friend, but it was not his place to get involved just yet.

The Magos Dominus was dead silent as he watched the security footage. He opened up the files for Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna, and prepared to edit them. Pugnus added a singular line to each of them, 'Plots against the Adeptus Mechanicus.' Even though they pose no threat now, it does not mean they will not be a nuisance in the future. They will ever change their mind or lose their cognitive functions. He then informed the female Dominus that she should keep her emotion in check. The Magos Dominus would have gone to recharge, but right now he had work to do.

It was the day of the dance, and every single member of team RWBY could not sleep in due to their excitement and angists. Once they sat down at their table in the cafeteria Ruby asked, "Blake, are you going to the dance today?" Even though her sister told her the answer, Ruby wanted to hear the words come from the Faunus' mouth.

"Yes," she replied bluntly. The crimson team leader jumped up from her seat filled joy, with both hands raised to the roof. Blake turned to her partner as she continued, "But that does not mean that I will not stop from finding out what the Adeptus Mechanicus is doing."

Yang reassured her, "Do not worry. I will help you against those metal bastards after the dance." Weiss nodded at the blonde's statement, while the team leader gave her sister a weird look.

"What is wrong with the Adeptus Mechanicus?" questioned Ruby.

The ex-White Fang member spat out, "They kill Faunus without reason."

"They are a threat to the kingdoms," added the Heiress.

Yang mentioned, "They are a cult."

Ruby tried to defend herself, "But they killed Roman Torchwick and defeated a Grimm hoard yesterday. They also have cool weapons that they use to protect the citizens of Vale."

Her sister informed her, "Rubes, they are lying when they say they will protect us, and they hate Faunus for no reason."

"I have never seen them being mean to Faunus," commented the team leader.

The Faunus growled, "One of them insulted me because I was a Faunus two days ago."

Ruby corrected her, "Cyber only asked why you are still wearing the bow."

"Cultist like them do not deserve a name Ruby," berated her partner. The two other people at the table nodded in agreement, the crimson teen on the other hand gave up the argument and stared into her plate of food. From the other side of the cafeteria, they could all hear Cardin and his team bullying a Velvet. Instead of glaring at team CRDL, Blake turned her gaze to the pair of Skitarii stationed in the room.

The Faunus in hiding commented, "See Ruby, they are not stopping Cardin from bullying Velvet. They hate Faunus, it is as simple as that." Instead of repeating the same pointless argument, the scythe wielder walked up to the Skitarii.

"Why are you not stopping team CRDL from bullying the Faunus over there? Is it because the Adeptus Mechanicus hates Faunus?" asked the teenager innocently as the rest of her team listen in.

One of the Skitarii explained, "Since the Adeptus Mechanicus has no form of local currency a few of the Skitarii volunteered to take jobs in the local area, both of us got assigned to security in the cafeteria. This allows us to earn money legally and the teachers to grade papers instead of standing around here. To train us, we watched all of the security footage from the cameras in this room. Mister Winchester has bullied Miss Scarlatina on multiple occasions, and the teachers present in the cafeteria did not move to stop him. If you view that as wrong you can go stop him yourself. It is the duty of a huntsmen to protect innocents, while us soldiers' duty is to follow orders. We have been ordered by Ozpin to not intervene, but that does not stop you."

Ruby Rose walked back to her seat silently and continued to eat her food. Blake asked herself, _'If Ozpin supports equal rights for Faunus than why does he not allow his teachers to stop cases of bullying.'_

"Now that they mention it, the teachers never stopped anything in the cafeteria besides the foodfight. Even then that was Professor Goodwitch who was walking by," pondered Weiss.

Blake countered, "Yes, but that does not stop them from stopping Cardin."

"No offence Blake, but it kinda does," countered Ruby. The Faunus glared, signaling her her to continue, "They have no Lien, that means they can not get anything legally. They can still barter for stuff, but they do not seem like the kind of people to do that. If they do something out of line they might lose their job, that means they do not get paid." Blake was not pleased at her observation, and when back to her food.

Yang cut the conversation short, "Enough of that. Wiess, we still have to do the final arrangement for the dance. In the meantime, I expect the two of you to go shopping for Blake's outfit."

The Faunus corrected her, "I already have an outfit for the dance." Ruby could not her sigh of relief to get out of shopping for shoes. One the crimson teen's list of things she hates, high heels is number three. With oatmeal raisin cookies and mistreating weapons above that. Neither was first place, instead they were tied for first and second place.

Pyrrha was standing outside of Professor Goodwitch's office debating if she should even be here. Before the spartan could decided the door was opened unexpectedly to reveal Glynda standing in front of her. The teacher asked, "Miss Nikos, what is on your mind?"

"It is about what Dominus Ferrum told me in class yesterday," explained Pyrrha. The professor walked into her office and gestured for the student to follow her.

Professor Goodwitch informed her, "I confronted Ira about the over extensive corrections after the class ended, while recording the entire conversation." The teacher placed her scroll onto the table and press the play button. The voice of the teacher questioned, _'What do you have against Miss Nikos?'_

A metallic voice explained, _'I have no ill will due to the fact that I can not bear emotions…I have been augmented with emotional dampeners to help keep calm and focused during the heat of battle. When you would feel jubilant, I would feel mild satisfaction. When you are terrified, I would be slightly uneased. I have nothing against Miss Nikos, I am only reminding her the weakness of the flesh. The more advanced the student is the more miniscule are the errors, but they are still mistakes nonetheless.'_

Pyrrha tried interpreted the words, "She is only correcting more because she views me as superior?"

"That is the explanation she gave, but her actions speak something else. She corrected the second, third, and fourth year students with less _accuracy_. Either Dominus Ferrum believes you are too experienced to be here or she has bias against you," corrected Professor Goodwitch.

The champion whispered to herself, "So she does hate me."

The teacher recommended, "You should talk to the tech-priest yourself about this to get to the bottom of it, or you could leave it alone. The choice is yours." Pyrrha silently left the office and started to wander the halls of the school.

Pyrrha soon found one of the tech-priest standing at the main entrance to Beacon. It was hard for her to tell them apart because the only thing different about them is their weapons that they keep under their robes most of the times. At least Pyrrha knew that the tech-priest was not an Enginseer. The champion walked up to the cyborg and asked, "Hello, are you Dominus Ferrum?"

"I know that it is hard for humans to tell us tech-priest apart, but can you notice that I am not a female?" exasperated the Dominus.

Pyrrha countered, "All of you wear the same style of robes, and the same monotone metallic voice."

Quin sighed as he explained, "Back to the point. Dominus Ferrum is busy currently and she will not be here until after dark. I can also answer your question as well."

"Does Dominus Ferrum hate me?" asked the champion.

The Dominus' logic kicked in, "Improbable, it would take something serious to make Ira _hate_ you. The more likely situation is that she is disturbed by you, the reason why is unknown. I do not know the female Dominus personally, but I know from the files that she prefers to vent her anger into the enemy instead of solving it."

Pyrrha continued her questioning, "Files?"

"That is none of your concern. What you should be worrying about is how to get Jaune to go to the dance with you," countered Quin as he quickly walked away from Pyrrha. Leaving her to her thoughts.

Ozpin sat in his office as he watched thru the security cameras, he knew that the Adeptus Mechanicus was plotting something. Three of their tech-priest and twenty of their soldiers left, he still has not learned the name of those soldiers. He knew that they were not Skitarii because they appeared completely different and they carried melee weapons. He checked their radio station to see if they left to attack the White Fang, only static came from the speakers.

Dominus Ferrum and Enginseer Eights were with the Sicarian Killclade in a White Fang Outpost that was taken yesterday. They preparing for the first major operation. The Magos Biologis Nova has completed her part of the plan, and now there were stuck with twenty crates designed to preserve the _unique_ augments. Enginseer Precision was in the medical tent of the camp inspecting the fresh converts, eighteen in total. Lucky enough for him, the Enginseer did not have to install ocular augments due to their _unnatural_ eye conditions.

 **Afterword: I know I said we would be getting to the dance, but then I realized that there is a part in Burning the Candle where Blake and Yang argue about having to stop Torchwick. I would have skipped over it, but then I remembered that I kill off the criminal lord.**


	18. Chapter 15

**Reviews:**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: Thanks for the review! I will continue to write chapters until either my computer dies or myself.**

 **Artyom-Dreizehn: I have a better idea to exterminate the Wyvern, but to tell you would be giving it away. Don't worry, there will be orbital bombardments in the future. The only reason there is none now is because the Magos Dominus is bound by a deal to not launch orbital bombardments on Vale's land without approval from either the council or the headmaster of Beacon.**

 **Forge Master 00: I don't need psyker abilities to sense the passive aggression from your characters about the lasguns. Blake is not a threat to the Ad Mech, but she views that she can solve everything by herself and maybe with her team. The Faunus will try to stop the Ad Mech, but we all know the outcome to that. RWBY is filled with simple lines between good and evil with a few outliers, Warhammer on the other hand has no lines between good and evil. This is common knowledge to the readers, but since most of the local feudals that I am including in the story are not used to morally gray situations they will try to fit the Ad Mech into either good or bad (This pertains mostly to the students of Beacon). In reality the Cult of the Machine God fits in neither, but they will try nonetheless. I will concede on the point about the lasguns. Magos Pugnus would prefer to let the White Fang have no lasguns, than single use lasguns.**

 **Dovashinn270: Welcome back comrade! About this nuclear toaster, how long will it take for a production line of the nearest Forgeworld and how long do I have to wait to be supplied with them?**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Notes: Sorry for not posting sooner, a load of important test rolled up last week and pulled me away from my cogitator and toaster to ancient paper textbooks. It did help me in my Quest for Knowledge, but at the sacrifice of not being able to write. This chapter will be extremely close to cannon, even more than the last chapter. Apologizes in advance if it get boring, even the Ultramarine Chant is more interesting than this.**

Chapter Fifteen: Dance Dance Intermission

The dance was upon Beacon, the Arch Magos had signed an adapted treaty with Ozpin yesterday. In exchange for only moving troops thru their territory with his permission, the Adeptus Mechanicus' forces will have jobs in Vale and Beacon to earn money. At face hand it may sound like a one sided in favor for Remnant, but now Pugnus has eyes in ears across Vale. Some of the Skitarii at work even planted listening devices in as many buildings as possible. Sure they had access to the entire CCT network, but some of the most important conversations are done in person. Sadly they cannot crush anymore hordes of Grimm because Ozpin is a _peacemaker_ , but that is the price to pay for more knowledge. None will be able to hide from the Adeptus Mechanicus forever.

"Oh, you look _beautiful_!" commented Yang as she saw her sister enter thru the door Ruby, who groaned to reply.

The crimson teen questioned as she began to stumble, "Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" She slowly made her way to the podium, making sure not fall in front of Yang. If she did, she would never hear the end of it.

Outside the doors, a certain monkey Faunus was fixing his wardrobe, "Stupid…dumb…neck trap!" The closed jacket was enough of a pain for him, but the tie was making it worse.

A familiar voice called out behind him, "I knew you'd look better in a tie." Sun turned around to see his fellow Faunus friend. She walked up to him and laced her hand around his arm.

The pair started walking toward the ballroom as the monkey asked, "So, does this mean we are going _together_?"

His date corrected him, "Technically, though my first dance is spoken for."

Blake and Yang finished their dance, they both gave a curtsey to the other as a jest. The blonde stepped back and gestured for Sun to enter the dance, which he gladly did. Yang left the dance floor to join with her two other team members, as they watched their Faunus comrade finally relax and even laugh. The blonde commented, "I told you she would come."

"Mission accomplished," added the heiress.

Ruby stepped forward and turned to face her friends, "So, what do we do now?"

Her team ditched her as Yang answered her, "Just have fun!"

"Does that mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now?" called out the crimson teen to the fleeting figures. Without a reply she complained, "Stupid lady stilts!"

"Not enjoying yourself?" questioned the Headmaster as he approached the student that was surprised he was here.

She quickly caught her stumble, "Oh, no, everything's fine! I'm just not much of a fancy pantsy dancey girl."

Ozpin countered, "Well, you can't spend your whole life on the battlefield, even if you may want to."

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest as she glared into the crowd of dancers, "Yeah, that lesson's been floating around a lot lately."

"If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked, although one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot," stated the old man.

Ruby looked down at the ground as she commented, "Or a twisted ankle."

The headmaster started to give his favored student advice, "It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds, but its nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget." The doors to the ballroom opened as a pair of students walked in.

Yang greeted them, "You guys are just in time!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," commented Mercury as he walked past the blonde. Ozpin excused himself as he disappeared into the crowd to join his colleagues. Ruby was left all alone by herself at the punch bowl at least that was true until Jaune joined her.

He commented with his voice filled his displeasure, "I see you're hiding at the punch bowl too."

"Yep," Ruby stated, popping the p.

"To the socially awkward," proposed Jaune as he gestures with his cup to click them together. The innocent teen giggled to herself as she responded to the gesture.

She apologized, "Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss."

The dense boy looked around the room as he started to gripe, "Meh, its fine. Neptune's pretty _cool_. I get why she went with him." The scythe wielder gave him a weird look as he continued, "Well, come on, not many people can pull off _blue_ hair." After he finished ranting he started to drink his punch. Which was surprisingly not spiked due to Professor Goodwitch's aura of power.

"Weiss came to the dance alone," informed Ruby, causing Jaune to almost choke on his drink. His confusion signaled her to explain further, "Yeah, she said that she had too much to focus on to worry about boys." The pair could both see the heiress at the lowest point in her time at Beacon, she was trying to keep the only drooping white rose. A far distance from Weiss, both of them could see Blake, Sun, and Neptune joking together and laughing the night away. Jaune unconsciously tightened his grip on his cup.

The blonde growled as he held out his cup, "Hold my punch." The girl obliged before he started to make his way thru the crowd to his destination. He stopped short when he saw his partner pass, she was downhearted and even the dense Arc could see that. He followed Pyrrha silently until she stopped at the balcony.

He made his presence known, "Hey, Pyrrha." She smoothly turned around to face her partner.

"Hello Jaune," responded the champion.

The Arc slowly started to walk closer to his friend, "You okay? I haven't seen you all day."

She explained as she looked off into the distance, the moonlight shining on her hair as if she was angelic, "I was looking for the Dominus in the morning and I arrived a little late, I'm afraid."

"Well, you _look_ really nice," complimented the Arc

Pyrrha's hand covered her mouth as she stated, "Thank you."

Jaune shifted his weight from his heels to the balls of his feet as he scanned around him, "Your, uh, date isn't going to beat me up for saying that, is he?"

"I think you are safe for tonight," jested the champion as her partner was left out of the joke.

In his nervousness he started to rub his hands together, "So, where _is_ the guy?"

She turned to face Jaune with her head held low, "There is no guy."

"What? Is he a she?" questioned the dense boy.

"No, it don't swing that way. Nobody asked me," corrected the champion who was still a little bid sadden.

Jaune on the other hand was flabbergasted, "But that's. You're Pyrrha Nikos! H-How could nobody ask you?"

His partner looked out to the horizon once again, but this time it was to vent, "I've been _blessed_ with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm _constantly_ surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place." She stopped to face her crush again, "Everyone _assumes_ I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form _any_ sort of meaningful relationship with people. That's what I like about _you_. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me."

Jaune could only spit out incoherent words as Pyrrha walked away from his and disappeared around the corner. His mood flipped on a dime when he saw Neptune walk around the corner past his partner, "Hey, uh, Jaune, right?"

"Yeah," he spat out.

Neptune attempted to reach common ground, "This party is pretty _lame_ , huh? I mean, ballroom dancing. Pfft." His only response was the Arc glaring at him. He tried again, "Cute girls, though, huh?"

The blonde snapped, "Is that _all_ you think about? Do you even _care_ about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about you?"

" _Whoa!_ " the blue haired teen yelled as he throw up his palms in a sign of defeat. Neptune asked, "Where's _this_ coming from?"

"How could you just turn her down like that?" berated Jaune as he made wide and authoritarian gestures with his hands. Both knew who was in control of the conversation.

He questioned, "Wait, h- _who_?"

" _Weiss_!" yelled the angered boy at the top of his lungs. Neptune could only rub the back of his neck with his hand as he suddenly grew interested in the tiled floor. The Arc pushed further, " _What_? You think that you're too _cool_ , too many other _options_? Weiss Schnee asked _you_ to the dance. What in the _world_ could _possibly_ keep you from go-"

"I can't dance!" yelled Neptune in desperation. Jaune stopped his rant and gave the student a confused look. He continued, "I can't dance, man!"

Arc's dense mind was trying to comprehend the situation, "But…you're so _cool_!"

The blue haired teen accepted the complement, "Thank you. I try really, _really_ , hard."

"You would rather break a girl's heart and go to the dance _alone_ than just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?" questioned Jaune.

The typically suave student just shrugged, "That about sums it up, yeah."

The team leader turned to look to the horizon as he muttered under his breath, "Well, I certainly feel a lot better about myself."

" _Please_ don't tell anybody. Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't wanna get in your way," surrendered Neptune.

Jaune turned to face the other student once more, "Do you like her?" The blue haired teen simply nodded as the blonde continued, "Then just go _talk_ to her. No pickup lines, no _suave_ moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go."

Neptune tried to argue with him, "Yeah, but then-"

"HEY! You _don't_ have to look cool _all_ the _time_! In all honesty, if you could be a _less_ cool, I'd _really_ appreciate it. Go talk to her. I guarantee it'll make her night," his tone made no room for argument. Neptune walked up to him with his fist extended out, Jaune gladly returns the first bump as the blue haired teen starts to head back to the ballroom.

"Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune," commented Neptune as he turned around the corner leaving the Arc alone to his thoughts. Alone on the balcony, the team leader started to go to his dorm to change his clothes. He had a promise to keep.

Yang and Ruby stood next to the handrail overlooking the ballroom, both of them resting their arms upon the dark wooden surface. "You know? I think we really needed this," commented the blonde as she watched her partner slow dance with Sun next to Nora and Ren waltzing. Ruby on the other hand spotted Penny dancing by herself next to two Atlesian Soldiers, she was still wondering where all of the Adeptus Mechanicus soldiers have gone to but that was on the backburner tonight.

"Yeah, and you did a great job planning it too!" complimented the youngest of the two sisters.

"Aw, thanks! It wasn't all me, though. Weiss did a lot too," stated Yang as she slowly got her sister into a headlock. After she started to squirm she loosened her gripe and cuffed, "Tomorrow it's back to work."

Ruby shrugged, "I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us. _Except_ for that." Laughter filled the ballroom as a previous guest entered the room after a quick outfit change.

Pyrrha turned around to see what all the laughter was about, turns out is her partner in a white dress that surprisingly fit to his form without ripping. She questioned, "Jaune?"

He casually replied with a smirk, "Eh, a promise is a promise."

The champion finally broke and started to laugh her lungs out, losing her natural composure. "Jaune! You didn't _have_ to!"

His voice became stern and confident, "Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word. Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do _you_ wanna dance?"

"I would _love_ to dance," answered Pyrrha as she light grasped unto his hand. (Could not take any more copy and pasting)

The Magos Dominus watched from the cameras as team JNPR started a group dance in sync that they did not practice, their coordination even rivaled that of Skitarii. The citizens of this planet do poses strange talents that he would search into later, is it a genetic trait of this planet similar to the purple eyes of Cadia or does it come with _aura_. He was currently bored out of his mind, because he had nothing to do. There was no attacks on the Grimm or White Fang to watch, Nova was cutting up the specimens and found nothing so far, and the Headmaster and General took the night off to enjoy the dance. All of the machine spirits have been blessed and he finished reading every file on the citizens of Remnant for the seventh time.

His boredom was quenched when he spotted at figure dressed in pitch black clothes running across the rooftops, he took a minute to contemplate how retarded these primitives are. The pure black clothes make you stand out in the light of the moon, and running on rooftops is not a common task for civilians to do. There are countless ways the figure could have done this act better, it is simple logic. Pugnus watched silently as the figure stalked up to the CCT tower right past one of the cameras, he now knew more about who it could be. It is a female with long black hair, her skin is white and her stature is that of a teenager. He send soldiers into arrest her, or he could wait and find out what she is planning to.

Once she entered the building, the criminal removed her mask as she approached the guards at the elevator. (It is from 9:47-9:50 in the episode) He sent a small snippet of the recording to one of the Logis to find out who she is, he will find the roots of corruption and rip them out of the ground. Red flames covered her dress as the two swords appeared in her hands, logic dictates that is her _semblance_. The Magos Dominus also got to witness Atlesian Soldiers in combat, Astra Militarum Conscript are better than them. The _soldiers_ chose not to use their guns and attack the criminal one at a time. Pugnus started to question why he could not just invade Atlas now.

He got the results back from the Logis, the criminal goes by the name Cinder Fall. How ironic, that describes perfectly what will be left of her after she is captured by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Only cinders. She does talk to herself, hinting that she has accomplices who are most likely her team members. Cinder plugged an unknown item from her hand into the cogitator she was sitting at. He received a warning from the Logis, creator of the Talpa Code, -Unknown virus detected entering the CCT System. Orders?-

-To not engage. Find the source of anyone who uses the virus and report back to me your findings, - ordered the Magos Dominus.

The Logis countered, -Magos Dominus, logic states that we should remove the enemy before they become a threat.-

-Logic also dictates that we should crush the source of our enemy before they can regrow again, - the Magos Dominus reminded his subordinate. Pugnus went back to watching the camera footage to see Ruby Rose fighting against Cinder Fall. The enemy summoned what he assumed was _dust_ crystals and sent them at the crimson teen. Miss Fall blocked the five 50 caliber bullets with her hand, _aura_ must be the reason. Instead of summoning the twin sword, she summoned a bow with explosive arrows using what he assumed was her _semblance_. The fight was cut short when General Ironwood exited the elevator, Pugnus Rubrum cut the feed from his sight and turned around to see the map of Remnant in the noosphere.

He pulled up the list of Cinder Fall's team, turns out they are from Haven Academy. Minstral is known for their divide in the classes, similar to Hive Worlds but that is not important right now. What is pressing is that there might be a corrupt citizen of Minstrel in Haven Academy helping Miss Fall. Another task for the Sicarian Killclade in the future. With all of that aside all he has to do now is wait.

Adam Taurus was standing over a map of Vale as two cloaked figures walked into the room. Both were around the same height, the one on the left hand a monkey tail extending from his cloak while the other had a crow's beak jutting out of the shadows of his face. He heard a metallic voice emit from the cloaks, "We are using voice changers to keep us and our families safe if _your_ plans go south."

"I thought you would bring all of you men here, after all I did hire twenty mercenaries. Not two," retorted the Faunus.

The other figure with the tail spoke this time, "They will be split into teams of five and sent to four different camps. All we need are the locations of the camps that you still have left, I did here that the so called _Adeptus Mechanicus_ have been giving you a hard time."

Adam dismissed his statement, "They have only taken out small and lightly guarded outposts, and all they say is propaganda. They should not be a problem for us. That is unless you are too scared of them."

The beaked Faunus cut the conversation short, "Give me the locations and then we can be out of you horns."

Adam pulled out his scroll and pressed a few buttons, "Consider it done. If you do not hold up your end of the deal I will massacre you alongside the human scum."

 **Afterword: Should I do an Easter Special, if so it will be the next chapter. Also if any of you want anything added into the special, just pm me or leave a review.**


	19. Chapter 16

**Reviews:**

 **Cheshire1999: It seems that you did not read the notes section for chapter fifteen, where I mentioned that the chapter would be mostly canon and where I apologized for if it is boring. You may be wonder why this chapter was so close to canon, that is because the Adeptus Mechanicus does not see a school dance as anything important. The dance was the students' time to relax, that means that they forgot about the Ad Mech. That means it does not deviate from canon except for a few lines. The Magos Dominus already gave his reason for not arresting Cinder on the spot in that chapter so no need to explain that.**

 **Aquaticmammals: I know this was review was on Chapter Fourteen (17) but it was posted after I published Chapter Fifteen (18). No offence, but the CULT Mechanicus is a cult. If you don't believe me here is the definition of a cult: a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. In this case the object/figure is the machine trinity (Omnissiah, Emperor, and Motive Force).**

 **Janee Rolfe Jalandont: I appreciate your concerns, but remember that I am more metal than flesh. Even if I die, the machine is immortal and will live on in this story. Glory to the Omnissiah. (I am saying this all in a jest, it you cannot tell)**

 **Forge Master 00: Another great omake, can't wait for the next one. Might feature your modified baneblade in the next special.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Notes: Since I received nothing on the Easter Special there was none, next one will be on Halloween. Sorry for not getting this chapter out faster, but my friends are starting up a Dungeon and Dragons campaign that I am a party member.**

Chapter Sixteen: Field Testing

General Ironwood argued with his comrade, "Ozpin, they were here! And very coincidently the _Adeptus Mechanicus_ was not here to catch them." The name of the foreign organization spat out of his mouth like venom out of a snake's.

"We're very much aware of that! Thank you, James," berated the professor. Ozpin started to rub his temples because of his subordinates were arguing.

The Atlesian turned his rage onto Glynda, "Fantastic! You're aware! Now are we going to confront this _cult_ about it or should we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's _right_ in front of us?!" Ozpin silently stood up from his seat as the doors to his office revealing one of the students.

"Sorry it took so long. Someone accidentally hit all the buttons on the elevator on the way up here. It wasn't me," stammered Ruby as she approached the table.

Ozpin greeted her, "Thank you for coming, Ruby. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy-catching record wasn't O-for-three," she attempted to joke. After an awkward silence she commented, "Okay, so that's the tone we're going for, got it."

The General commended the student, "Ruby, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about. You recognized a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could." Ruby nodded in reply.

"Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that…transpired last night, but now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add," debriefed the headmaster.

Ruby informed them, "Some of my teammates think that the Adeptus Mechanicus was behind this because they left day the infiltration happened. She was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass. I don't think that was her Semblance, though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked. None of it points to the Adeptus Mechanicus, except that they left Beacon earlier that day."

"Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby," remembered the Professor. She turned to face Ironwood as she informed him, "Which was before the Adeptus Mechanicus found this planet."

The General only glared at his comrade as the crimson teen questioned, "You think this girl is connected to the White Fang?"

"It's possible. But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together. Maybe the Adeptus Mechanicus know something about this?" pondered the headmaster as he called the Magos Dominus on his scroll.

Within a second the call was answered, "What is the problem Ozpin?"

"Who said there was a problem?" countered the headmaster.

Pugnus reasoned, "You never called before to check up on me, I have always called you. Since my soldier were removed from Beacon to allow the students to relax during the dance I can only assume that worst had happened while my soldiers were away. I ask again headmaster, what is the problem?"

Ozpin relented, "An unknown figure broke into the CCT Tower last night, any ideas who she is or why she was there?"

"That sounds like your problem, but I will assist. Now why would anyone want to break into the CCT Tower?" questioned the tech-priest.

"There is nothing of value inside that tower," countered Ironwood.

Pugnus laughed as he explained, "I swear you feudals are not the brightest. The CCT System is programmed that if one should fall, all of them will. One of the most retarded ideas that I have seen, and I have _studied_ greenskin _inventions_. Should a single terrorist destroy or tamper with on the towers programs then none of the four kingdoms can contact the other. Divide and conquer."

The call abruptly ended as the room was silent. Ozpin was the first to break the silence, "Thank you for your cooperation, Ruby. Why don't you go and spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you."

She started to head back to the elevator, "Anytime."

"And Miss Rose, please try and be…discreet about this matter," requested the headmaster as she entered into the elevators. Ruby only nodded in reply.

Miss Rose opened the door to her dorm, her entire team were waiting to in the middle of the room. "What happened?" asked her sister as they, Ruby remembered what Ozpin last told her to do as she entered her dorm.

After she finished with the explanation of what happened in the headmaster's office Blake questioned with venom in her voice, "So Ozpin does not believe it is the Adeptus Mechanicus' plot?"

"There is nothing connecting them to the criminal Blake," retorted Ruby.

Weiss reminded them, "We all know they are planning something evil, and they so happen to disappear from Beacon the night someone breaks into the CCT Tower in Beacon."

"But the criminal was completely human and used aura," countered the team leader.

Blake glared as she spat out, "She could have been a mercenary they hired to do their dirty work." The crimson reaper looked at her feet as her sister approached behind her.

"I know what will cheer you up!" commented Yang as she produced a cylinder. She continued, "Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together!"

Her voice became high pitched, "Ooooh! Something from home!" She jumped on her sister's back and attempted to snatch the package out of her hands. A ball of black fur fell out of the cylinder, after a second it formed into a familiar shape of a dog. "Zwei!"

Blake disappeared as Weiss questioned, "He sent a _dog_ in the mail?"

Yang dismissed her concerns as Ruby played with the dog in her hands, "Oh, he does stuff like this all the time!"

"Your father or your dog?" inquired the cat who was hiding on the top bunk.

Weiss stepped up to her partner and glared at Zwei as she demanded, "Are you telling me that this mangy…drooling… _mutt_ is going to wiv wif us _foweva?_ Oh, yes he _is_ , yes he _is!_ Oh, isn't he adorable!"

The Faunus requested, "Please keep it away from my belongings."

A crackle of static stopped the conversation, "Would all first year students please report to the amphitheater?"

"Come on girls, Zwei will be here when we get back!" said Yang as she began to leave the room. Blake jumped from the bed to the table, and landed at the door.

Weiss spoke to the corgi as if it were a baby as she slowly exited the room, "Oh, I'll miss you so much, we're going to be best friends, I can't wait to see you." The crimson teen stayed behind as stared at her beloved dog, even more than cookies but less than Crescent Rose, an evil smile grew upon her face as she reached for her school bag.

Team RWBY entered the auditorium with the other students, mindless chatter echoed against the walls. A loud screech came from the speakers as the headmaster checked to see if the microphone was working. The room quieted down as he gave his speech, "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your best."

Pugnus could not help but to scoff at his speech. -They celebrate a peace that is not there, they promote individualism that will only lead to conflicting ideas, and the fear a 'war' that was eighty years ago which was nothing but a small skirmish that they will eventually face. If I knew the feudals were this pathetic at the start of this operation I would have just invaded them.-

Team RWBY approached one of the holographic screen and began scrolling thru the missions. The team leader exclaimed, "Here we go! Quadrant 5 needs Grimm cleared out! And it is in the southeast!"

"We can finally put a stop to the White Fang there and find out what the Adeptus Mechanicus is doing as well," commented the Faunus.

The blonde bombshell added on, "Sounds perfect!" After Ruby pressed a few buttons on the screen to accept the mission a message popped up. ' _Available for second year students and up._ '

Blake asked, "Any other ideas?"

With nothing to lose the crimson teen jested, "We _mail_ ourselves there!"

"Well, that's one option," stated the headmaster as he approached team RWBY from behind the screen. He continued, "Unfortunately, the Adeptus Mechanicus, Atlas Military, and Beacon Staff have determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students. It seems that _particular_ region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you four will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

Ruby turned to her friends to see them all glaring at her. With none of the students saying anything, Ozpin decided to show them how much he knows of their _activities_ , "I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago. I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just _bend_ them?"

Ozpin pressed a few button on his scroll, which caused the hologram screen to show that the mission accepted team RWBY. Ruby turned from the screen to the old man while telling him, "We won't let you down. Thank you, professor."

His voice became stern, "Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory. I will be glad to hear anything you find out about the Adeptus Mechanicus on your mission as well. Good luck."

-Last time I checked, team RWBY is not a second year team. The deal is off! Magos Ferrum, assist the foolish feudals with a squad of Skitarii. Magos Decium, focus the remaining soldiers to the south of Vale in case of an enemy attack in the near future. You will be supported by the two Enginseers and the Datasmiths, - yelled the Magos Dominus over the vox channel. They were waiting for the enemy to make their first move, but it appears that Ozpin choose to act first. A change in his attitude that Pugnus thanks him for, now they can move and blame the headmaster if anything goes wrong.

A tech-priest questioned his orders, -What about the Sicarian Killclade, should we change their orders?-

-What about them? Last time I checked they were missing in action during the last raid against the White Fang, weird that they would disappear right before we started our first major operation. Isn't that right? - retorted the Magos Dominus.

Team RWBY left the auditorium and reached the docks, slowly heading for the airship that will take them to their mission. "That wasn't exactly uplifting," commented Yang.

Her partner countered, "But it's the truth."

"It's gonna to be tough, but I know we can do it!" assured the team leader as a bullhead landed and a famous second year team exited the aircraft. Team CFVY.

The Faunus quickly approached her fellow and questioned, "Velvet? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me," explained the rabbit as she gestured to her towering team mate as he walk past them.

Weiss tried to pry more information out of her due to concern rather than pride, "Your mission was supposed to end a _week_ ago! What happened?"

"Nothing happened. It was just…there were just so many," explained Velvet but once she saw their concerned glances she assured them, "Oh, but don't worry. You first years are just shadowing Huntsmen, so you should be fine. I should go. Be safe, okay?" The Faunus disappeared into the crowd to join back with her team.

Knowing that her team were secretly questioned if they were prepared for the mission, she herself was asking the same questioned but they did not need to know that, Ruby started to give an inspiring speech before they left, "We can do this. We've never backed down before, and we're not going to start now. Besides, it won't only be us out there! We'll be fighting alongside a genuine Huntsman!"

Their hopes all died when they realized who was going to be their huntsmen, Professor Oobleck. He greeted them with a grin running ear to ear, "Why, hello girl! Who's ready to fight for their lives?"

To add to the problem, a cold and monotone metallic voice answered his question, "We are prepared to slain the enemies of man, but some of the Skitarii Rangers under my command are male." Dominus Ferrum approached the teacher with ten soldiers armed with their signature rifles and handed him a piece of paper.

Oobleck read the message on the parchment out loud, "Due to Ozpin breaking the contract with the Adeptus Mechanicus about having to send a _second year_ team to the Grimm hoard in Quadrant 5, a patrol detachment of Adeptus Mechanicus forces will be sent to assist the unprepared students. Tech-Priest Dominus Ira Ferrum, who will be accompanying the Skitarii Ranger squad, will act as a second huntsmen with the same amount of authority over the mission as Doctor Oobleck. Failure to comply will result in…"

The words died in the professor's agape mouth as he crumpled the note, his shaking hand moved to hide the rest of the message in his coat pocket. His eyes could not meet that of the half metal incarnation of terror standing in front of him. Out of his fear he attempted to joke to the students, "At least you got my title correct and did not call me Professor Oobleck."


	20. Chapter 17

**Reviews:**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: The Metal Messiah will always be present if there is at least one machine spirit in good care. Glory to the Omnissiah!**

 **Forge Master 00: Another great omake from a great servant of the Omnissiah. Keep up the good work, although I will have to look into how many crew men is required for a baneblade.**

 **Guest: Did I just hear an Ultralaugh? I swear to the Omnissiah if any Ultrasmurfs enter this story Remnant will be put on the Exterminatus list. Besides that, Blake is going to have a fun in the next few chapters**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Notes: I have been thinking about making a discord server so that we can better communicate about how you feel about the story and where I plan to take it, if nobody wants one then I will not make one. I will make polls for what to happen in the story, for example:** _ **Who do you want to be the first tech-priest from Remnant?**_ **Sorry for not getting this chapter out sooner, the end of the school year is coming and I am barely passing my math class. Arrays were a bitch even for my cogitators. Also turns out I have been living under a rock, because I just found out about Secutarii and Thermite Assault Drill. (They came out last year in June)**

Chapter Seventeen: Examine and Exterminate

Blake did not knew what they were planning, but it was not good. They threatened a professor and hijacked her team's mission, and for what?! It was unfair and unreasonable! She will make sure that they are brought to justice. The Schnee asked, "Professor Oobleck, is everything okay?"

He avoided the subject as much as looking at the tech-priest, "It is _Doctor_ Oobleck, and currently we are already three minutes behind schedule." In a flash, the teacher was already standing next to the bullhead and signaling them to follow him. A short electronic chirp came out of the Dominus, and her entourage started to approach the craft.

Ruby attempted to cheer up her team, "Well, alright, then! Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oobleck and Dominus Ferr-. Okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse."

"You are not tasked to save the world yet, Ms. Rose. A more accurate description is that your team has been assigned to a task above your current skill set with Doctor Oobleck. If your team is successful then you might have saved a village from an attack for three days," corrected the female Dominus as she left the group to join Oobleck. Blake attempted to turn her into scrap metal with her glare. Ira knew what the abhuman was doing with her back turned, but it humor her when she attempts to resist the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The Faunus questioned her team, " _They_ are planning something and we all know it. What are we going to do about it?"

"Are you guys doing a secret mission!" yelled a boisterous ginger as Blake saw team JNPR walk towards them slowly. Nora wagged her finger at them, "Are you guys investigating the Fangers again?"

Yang corrected her, "No, the white metal men sent ten of their droids to accompany us on our mission."

"The Atlesians?" questioned Jaune.

Weiss glared at him while Yang corrected herself, "No, the other white metal men."

Nora derailed the conversation again, "Those evil toaster fu-"

A loud metallic voice from the bullheads cut her off, " _Four_ minutes late!" Yang was thankful that she did not have to cover her sister's ears.

Ruby stated, "Well…wish us luck!" Team RWBY made way to the bullhead as team JNPR walked towards Beacon.

"Nora, what make the Adeptus Mechanicus evil?" asked Ren.

His partner and close friends answered him, "They do not eat pancakes."

Pyrrha tried to spin her view, "Would that mean there are more pancakes for you then?" The ginger's eyes went wide when she realized her initial mistake.

Team RWBY quietly entered into the bullhead to see Dominus Ferrum having a discussion with the professor, "While I do not believe you should be punished for Ozpin's mistake, but we had to make sure that you would not leave us here."

"I can see the reason that you would threaten me, but I would not believe you would have done so…ruthlessly," explained the Doctor as he rubbed the back of his neck. Once he saw the girl he stated, "Come and join us girls, we are just clearing up misunderstandings. Dominus Ferrum is willing to answer any questions you have. Am I correct to assume that?"

The person in question explained, "While I will answer most of your questions Doctor Oobleck, the same cannot be said to your students for they are not as mature as you. They do not understand the value of different cultures and might regard foreign ideas as barbaric and uncivilized. It is not wise to be at each other throats before we enter enemy territory, but not answering any questions will have the same effect. Therefore I will answer _some_ of their questions while leaving time for a brief of the mission. One question per student is acceptable."

Yang was as blunt as possible, "Out of all the missions to take over, why ours?"

"Magos Dominus Pugnus spotted this hoard of Grimm and proposed to your Headmaster that he should exterminate them before it becomes a problem. He rejected his idea and said a _second_ year team would be sent in to quell the enemy. Since Ozpin broke his end of the deal, we sent a patrol to assist you in case you cannot handle the upcoming tussle," explained the tech-priest.

Ruby was confused, "Like the mushroom?"

"Those are truffles," corrected Blake

"Like the sprout?" guess the team leader.

Her sister helped her out, "Those are Brussels."

"Like the busy movement?" she attempted in vain.

The Skitarii Alpha answered, "That is a bustle, and that counts as your question." Ruby could not help but to pout, she wanted to ask how their weapons worked.

It was now Blake's turn, "What is your view towards Faunus?"

"While they are abhumans, they are willing to fight against the Grimm. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. It appears we are already here," reasoned Ira. The bullhead started to descend as they approached the ruins of Mount Glenn. Each member of team RWBY readies their weapons and jump off the bullhead and land into a pose on the cracked concrete ground below. The Adeptus Mechanicus forces on the other hand, and Doctor Oobleck, calmly step off of the bullhead once it was closer to the ground. None of them had their weapons raised. Most fleshbags would view this as them being unprepared, but they always forget the reactions time of the Rangers.

Skitarii Ranger-4880 _'Jane'_ commented, -Dominus Ferrum, you do know that the saying goes as follows: The enemy of my enemy dies second.-

-Yes Skitarii Ranger-4880, I know that is true. But the primitives do not. Everything I say to them can be viewed as skewed to put the Adeptus Mechanicus as saviors in their eyes. They value individualism and democracy, both of which are nonexistent on Forge World Metalica. Then again, I do not know of any code in you that tells you to state the obvious, - remarked Dominus Ferrum as she approached the faulty Skitarii.

-That might be because I am one of the fresh converts Dominus Ferrum, the flesh part of my brain tries to resist the divine rule of the Omnissiah, - theorized Jane. Ira ignored the Skitarii's problems currently, but she will inform the Magos Dominus after the mission.

Her inner thoughts caused her to miss the first part of Doctor Oobleck's speech to the students, "…point forward, you need to do exactly as I and Dominus Ferrum says! Do you understand?" He paused in his ramblings to glare at the youngest student, "RUBY! I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school."

"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't," retorted the crimson reaper.

"She's not wrong," muttered the professor to himself as he glanced at the tech-priest. He turned back to face his students, "Very well, Ruby; leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return."

Ira cut the conversation short, "One of the Skitarii will carry to bag instead. If it is left here is could be destroyed or stolen. If Ms. Rose carries it then it will hinder her ability in combat, which at its best is _questionable_ against the predicted enemy."

"But would that hinder the Skitarii's combat ability?" inquired Doctor Oobleck.

"Extra weight will not impact the efficiency of the machine," stated the tech-priest with purpose.

The teacher turned back to his students, "Alright then Ruby, you heard the Dominus." Her eyes were filled with fear and sadness as she handed her backpack over to Skitarii Ranger-4880.

-Dominus Ferrum, my auspex scans show that there is a living creature in the storage unit, - reported Jane. To team RWBY, all they heard was a click and the tech-priest slowly turning to the soldier as if he was crazy.

"Open it," ordered Ira in low gothic. The Skitarii quickly pulled back the flap of the backpack as if there was a dangerous target in there. Then Zwei hoped out of the bag and into Jane's arms, ignoring that fact she was half metal the corgi licked her face.

The Skitarii panicked, -Dominus Ferrum! The creature is attempting to assault me! Orders! It must be put down!-

Since the primitives could not understand Lingua-Technis they ignored the pleas of the soldier. The teacher interrogated Ruby, "We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought…a _dog_?" Before she could answer he rushed past Jane and ripped Zwei out of her hands, while in the process knocking over all ten of the Skitarii like they were bowling pins, "Genius!"

Within a second the Doctor was on the other side of the destroyed street spinning with the dog, "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!"

"I'm a genius!" claimed Ruby as she took credit she did not deserve. Dominus Ferrum was too busy checking on the Skitarii to counter her statement.

Blake ignored her partner as she face palmed, "So, what are your orders Doctor?"

Ira was finished with her duties. She reminded him, "You have yet given the team a full brief on the mission. It is not wise for you to hoard all of the critical information, when it should be shared with the masses."

"Then why do you not give Atlas the blueprints to your weapons?" countered Weiss as she crossed her arms. She emitted an aura of faked superiority.

"Are you stating that we have superior technology than Atlas?" retorted the tech-priest, to which the heiress started to mutter insults under her breath.

Ignoring the squabbling, the teacher started to brief, "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being…Grimm." After a short pause of confusion he recertified, "Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment." The students frantically turned around to see mankind's most feared enemy on this planet. Before anyone could draw their weapons, the sharp zap of a Galvanic Rifle broke the silence of the city.

"What Grimm?" commented the Skitarii that eliminated the threat. Sixteen more Beowolves strolled around the corner and spotted them.

"And now they've seen us." concluded Doctor Oobleck as he took a sip out of his thermos. His students looked at him dumbfounded at what to do. The squad of Rangers on the other hand did not need to be told to eradicate the xenos from the presence of the Omnissiah's blessed. In less than a minute the pack, if it can even be called one, were turning into dust before the wrath of Metalica.

Ira corrected the students who were stuck staring at the Skitarii, "The enemy will not wait for you to formulate a plan before they attack. You must always have a basic fall back plan if your team leader does not come up with one in time. For example the Ranger's fall back plan is to hold their current position until a superior arrives. But since I am experienced I ordered them to form ranks and send volleys into the Grimm. If you do nothing in the battlefield then you will be the first to die. While you are to follow mine and Doctor Oobleck's orders, that does not mean you have to rely solely on them."

The rest of the day they slowly cleared throughout the city, each encounter team RWBY learned from the mistakes of the previous and did not repeat them. Dominus Ferrum never once fired her weapons or used her axe during the entire day. On the rare occasion that a Ranger was damaged, Blake watched carefully at what the Dominus did to _heal_ them. She could never get close enough to tell if the liquid pouring out of them is oil or blood. They appeared purely machine, but their white robes sometimes turned crimson if a Grimm got past their firing line. Never did they speak, never did they tire, never did they scream, and never did they slow down. Whenever she glanced at them, there was always at least one of them who was staring back. But it was never the same soldier, while they all appeared identical, the few dents and scratches are different on every single one.

Weiss was quiet the entire time as she inspected the weapons of the Adeptus Mechanicus from afar. The heiress could tell her partner was attempting the same but for different reasons, childish curiosity versus fear of the unknown. She could not tell the caliber of the weapon, if there even is one, and they never reloaded their rifles. The firearms themselves were made of metal and wood and _appeared_ to be a flintlock rifle, but their rate of fire proves otherwise. Their rounds were definitely not weaker than dust rounds, the questions if they are better is still up in the air. None of them possessed an aura to protect them, which was baffling for the Schnee. There are no downsides for using aura, but she reasoned that they can't unlock it because they are all simple robots.

After the pack of Grimm around them was slain Doctor Oobleck commented, "Excellent work, girls! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on!"

"Criminal operations? We are here to exterminate the Grimm, not hunt criminals." questioned the Dominus.

Three members of the first year team glared at the robed figure before Doctor Oobleck explained, "There have been evidence to prove that there is a White Fang outpost or camp in this Quadrant."

"They why has the Headmaster not informed us about this? A better question is why that is not included with our mission? With this team's knowledge about _that_ terrorist organization, they would have been perfect for the job if only they were more _component_ ," commented Ira. Her backhanded compliment earned the tech-priest melting glares.

Yang countered, "At least we are doing something, while you just stand there and watch like this _pro huntsmen_. So why do you stop insulting us and do anything. Like, _fighting_ , or at least, _helping_ us fight?"

The electronic blue eyes the pierced thru the shadow set by the hood switched to crimson red in a second, "Ms. Xiao Long, do you remember our sparring match when I first started teaching? I had to take it easy on you to allow the class to learn from it. If I joined the fray there would be no Grimm left for you to kill."

"Why don't you put your lien where your mouth is?" taunted the blonde bombshell. Doctor Oobleck could hear the tech-priest take in sharp intakes of air in response, was it a form of communication or an unknown costume in their culture. As if on cue, a small patrol of ten Beowolves rounded the corner down the street. Within seconds a firing line was formed, a sharp static hiss from Ira made the Skitarii break formation.

Dominus Ferrum knew it was uncharacteristic of her to give into the primitives taunts, but they needed to be taught to be afraid of the Adeptus Mechanicus. She personally believes actions are louder than words, unless you blast canticles thru your voxs turned up to eleven. Ruby watched as the large weapon hanging at the side of Ira light up as she approached the Grimm without a hint of fear. What was unexpected was that she did not fire any of her ranged weapons until she was about to enter melee with the small pack. The weapon fired a yellow ray that evaporated the three creatures it touched, the sharp crack of gunfire from her pistol field another three. The two handed axe that she carried was ended the beowolf that was dumb enough to lunge at her.

Yang remembered from her match against Ira that she used something that appear to be aura, but the screen could not read it. Turns out the tech-priest had to need for it, because the claws of the Grimm bounces off of her armor harmlessly. One did get a lucky strike and ripped a part of her robes revealing more metal. The creature got pistol whipped for its troubles. Two staccato bangs signaled that the fight was done. Once Dominus Ferrum rejoined the group she was bombarded with questions by Ruby, "That was so cool! You turned three of the Grimm into dust with you death ray weapon! Well not the _dust_ dust, but like dirt dust. Even better is that you did not even use your aura or semblance!"

Ira corrected her, "I do not possess aura."

"Why would you not have aura?! There are not downsides! And you call us dumb," berated the heiress.

The tech-priest countered, "There are downsides, _child_. Your people rely on this _aura_ as their only defense against weapons, some of your even waste your _only_ defense to attack the enemy. It makes you weak. Also, if aura is so easy to use then why does not every civilian have it unlocked? Or is it reserved for the _protectors_ that sit behind the walls of your cities as villages are overrun?"

"If you do not have aura, then what was the flashes of light that was seen during your sparring match with Ms. Xiao Long?" questioned Dr. Oobleck.

"That is one of our methods of defense. That is all you need to know," explained the Dominus.

Blake taunted her, "Why do you not tell us about your methods of fighting? We are on the same side and working together on this mission. Or are you too _scared_?"

"Why do you still wear that bow, are you too scared to take it off? Or do you keep it because you used it to replace the Grimm mask?" countered Ira. Blake's fist tightened around the hilt of her weapon, her knuckles became white to keep her from attacking the machine in front of her. The program in the cogitators' of the Skitarii released the threat, their trigger fingers slowly moved from the side of the weapon to the mechanism it is designed for.

Doctor Oobleck was the first to break the silence, "The day is wasting away, and we can clear this portion of the town before night fall if we keep moving." Nobody had any arguments to his statement, the standoff was put on hold as they still had more Grimm to clear out. Instead of being at the center of the group, the professor moved up to Dominus Ferrum's side. "Why did you become a tech-priest?" questioned the green haired speed demon.

"You speak as if I had a choice Doctor Oobleck. The Adeptus Mechanicus does not lie to its citizens when there is a war, unlike Vale. My home forge, Metalica, sits on the edge of Ultima Segmentum, the largest Segmentum in the Imperium of Man. The only other major Forge World in Ultima Segmentum is Triplex Phall, which itself is rebellious to the rule of Forge World Mars. For this, we are held to high standards and have to produce the most out of every Forge World. We are also in close proximity to the Ork Empire of Charadon, forcing us to produce endless legions of war to exterminate the xenos threat," explained Ira.

He repeated himself, "That does not answer the question Dominus."

She answered him, "I was conscripted, that same is true for every member of the Adeptus Mechanicus on this planet. But you who ever have a choice, you would make a great Explorator Doctor Oobleck."

"What does that entail?" questioned the green haired man.

"You would have a fleet at your command with a detachment from the Legiones Skitarii to do your bidding. Your job would be to scour the galaxy for knowledge to save the Imperium at large from repeat the mistakes of the past," explained Ira. For the good doctor, it sounded too good to be true. But the promise of fulling his lifelong dreams for the rest of his prolonged mechanical life clouded his mind.

 **Afterword: Sorry for cutting it short here, wanted to get it out before Wednesday.**


	21. Chapter 18

**Reviews:**

 **Guest (First One): While your statement is true, the Magos Dominus still have plans for the world before he plunges it into the fires of war. Also, if the Ad Mech declares war of Remnant than my story will end quickly and abruptly. Which I know that some readers will not appreciate, and neither will I.**

 **Guest (Second One): Cool.**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: You do not need to remind me of the consequences of not posting more chapters. Give psalms to the Machine God till the end of days.**

 **Forge Master 00: 1) Doctor Oobleck is still worried about the conversion part, and losing his humanity. But he can still be swayed 2) I might include your Void Splitter in my next story, I will pm you about it when the time comes. 3) The Metalica conscript thing is not canon (currently scouring for knowledge to prove or disprove it), but I would not be surprised if it is true. Metalica isn't my favorite Forge, I am trying to figure out which Forge World I will choose for my army. Ryza, Lucius, and Stygies are the ones I am torn between.**

 **Guest (Third One): I am want Doctor Oobleck and Ruby to become tech-priest but if the stories does not flow that way than so be it. The first poll on the discord server will be about which one will be the first tech-priest. It depends on the Forge World, for example in the review Forge Master 00 left shows that the citizens of Mars have more choice. It is just that Metalica is a world with everything put into efficiency and citizens that do nothing harm that efficiency. I never liked Blake as a character in RWBY because she gave off a sense arrogance and that only she could fix the White Fang, when she can't do shit to be honest. That character flaw is going to be presented in full during this story. I swear to the Omnissiah, if that ball of plot armor and geneseed enters any of my stories I will book a one way ticket to Hell Forge Sarum.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Notes: The discord code is eeJxfZ9, if it does not work/expires then pm me about it. I am going to have the first pole set up there soon,** _ **all**_ **are welcome to join. Since the fleet in orbit has been ignored heavily they will be getting some love in this chapter. Apologize for being late with this chapter, school ends at the end of the month for me which will allow me to post more often.**

Chapter Eighteen: Fury

Even with her Faunus traits she had trouble listening to what the tech-priest and professor were talking about, not due to distance but the rhythmic sound caused by the metal soldiers between her and the conversation. It was almost if they knew what she was attempting to do and were preventing her from completing her mission. She needed to stop the Adeptus Mechanicus from destroying the White Fang so that she could rebuild it in a better image, _her_ image.

Doctor Oobleck tore his mind away from the tempting offer to question his students, he secondary mission after making sure they are protected against all forms of assault. Even if it comes from the Adeptus Mechanicus, which he hopes will never happen. He really needs to get rid of his habit of going off on tangents and focus on the task at hand. "Tell me Yang, why did you choose this line of work?" asked the teacher as he put the blonde under his judging gaze.

She started off explaining, "Well, to fight monsters and save-"

The professor could not help to pinch the bridge of his nose above his glasses. "No, that is what you _do_. I want to know why you do it. The honest reason as to why you want to be a Huntress," Oobleck corrected.

"The honest reason? I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?" answered Yang. He noted that her eyes started to jump from building and the foot that her weight was placed on shifted multiple times during the entire _answer_.

While the next encounter was being wrapped up he questioned his second underling, "And you, Miss Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So…why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?"

She slowly walked up to him, her manner of talk was as if she was giving a speech, "It's exactly as you said. I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty." Similar to her teammate, she was lying. If she became a huntress because of _solely_ her family duty and honor, she would be in Atlas Academy. This is an interesting matter, to research later.

After the ex-terrorist cleared out the first floor the ruined building, Doctor Oobleck decided it was a good time to ask her a few questions. (All professors know that Blake is an ex-White Fang member and a Faunus. While Ozpin likes to keep information to himself, he wanted to give the teacher a warning about what they say in class to her.) "And what about you, Blake? You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose," stated the professor as he stood in the doorway.

She turn to see who was talking, upon realizing it was the huntsmen she took a glance out of each window. It was as if she was hiding from someone, Dominus Ferrum perhaps? He did notice the glares the Faunus had been sending to the tech-priest. Blake reasoned, "There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption…" After checking the windows again she whispered, " _Foreign invasion_."

The entire room went silent as if both of them was waiting for something to happen, thankfully nothing did. Blake went back to her normal speaking voice, " _Someone_ has to stop it." She appears to already despise the Adeptus Mechanicus and suspect them of wanting to invade Remnant. While her theory may hold some fact, due to the reports from the recent attacks on the White Fang outposts and relations between them and Atlas, it is not entirely true. Maybe she is biased because she still supports her brothers and sisters in arms against humanity even though she said she changed. Regardless, Ozpin will want to hear about this.

Doctor Oobleck decided to continue the conversation, "Very well. How?"

Blake appeared caught off guard, frantic, and confused all at the same time. He would most likely pin the facial changes on being surprised or scared. The hidden Faunus whispered, "I, uh…stop the Adeptus Mechanicus?" The professor need nothing more from her. He walked back to the group with haste to reach up with the Skitarii, maybe he could ask some of them questions why they enlisted as well. The ex-terrorist was left alone, surrounded by the fading bodies of the Grimm, as she allowed her mind to wander.

Skitarii Ranger Alpha-9342, _'Daniel',_ watched as the person designated as Doctor Oobleck approached them. His face showed no signs of hostilities or displeasure, but a special kind of curiosity. The same that she had seen on an Adept training to become a tech-priest before she was transferred under command of Magos Dominus Pugnus. He asked the squad in general, "Why did you choose to join the army of the Adeptus Mechanicus?"

Knowing that only he could give the answers that the Dominus would be pleased with, the Alpha lied, "All of the Skitarii here have been conscripted." Daniel watched as the professor wrote some notes down on his notebook before heading off in the direction the party had been going. Once he was out of range he questioned his squad, -How many of you have recorded the conversation the Doctor had with the traitorous abhuman? - Sadly his blessed machine ears only received five affirmatives, none of which were from the _fresh_ converts. Maybe they past selves still had some control over them, the Magos Dominus must be warned about this if it is true.

Blake noticed that during the second half of the evening the attitude of the Skitarii changed while they were around her. Instead of one always glaring at her it increased to two, and they only rotated between half of them. Maybe they heard her conversation with Professor Oobleck? No that was impossible. They were too far away from the conversation, and factoring in her whispering, only a Faunus could hear her confessions. And she knew for certain that an organization that wanted to exterminate her kind would never hire on of her brothers or sisters. But doubt still lingered in the dark corners of her brain. Her gut told her that she was in danger, but her mind reasoned that if they did anything to her then Remnant would no longer trust them.

Weiss was the first to notice that Doctor Oobleck stopped walking that is if you do not count the robots that had reactions times that humans could not compete with. Her gaze shifted to her team leader who was using her _weapon_ to play with the cute and lovable fur ball called Zwei. It had a nice Atlesian sounding name, which made it even perfect. The heiress noted how the tech-priest appeared to be also glaring at her partner, it was hard to tell because her entire face was metal. Living around someone as cold as her sister helped her read emotions of people who were usually cold. But Winter was a snowflake in coldness compared to the blizzard that is Dominus Ferrum. Once Ruby noticed everyone was looking at she apologize, "Sorry! Uh…are we ready to keep going?"

Doctor Oobleck corrected her, "Nope! I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." He set the supplies he had been carrying down, "You three, set up camp in that building. Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those…creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Ruby." A quick burst of static came out of Ira, forcing the Skitarii to split into two groups of five. The group without the tech-priest followed Oobleck and Ruby, while the other group with the Dominus moved towards the supplies.

Blake stepped forward toward one of the Skitarii who was reaching for the supplies, in a quick movement she snatched it before he could lay a finger on it. During the entire confrontation her eyes did not move from the face of the soldier. Weiss expected the android to do nothing, but instead it commented, "That is good to know. Beacon produces soldiers that are incompetent and have not learned manners."

"Maybe you could teach the feudals in Manners 101? You would make a perfect teacher." recommended another Skitarii.

Ira reprimanded them, "Skitarii Ranger-4880 and Skitarii Ranger-1574, I believe the two of you were ordered not to antagonize the feudals, no matter how tempting it maybe. Or do both of you need to be sent to the to the reinforcement pool?" Both of the offending soldiers stood up straight and gave a crisp salute to their superior. The five man squad gathered the rest of the supplies without a word, which was weird to Weiss. They showed traits of being human one moment, but when reminded by the tech-priest they turn back into emotionless robots. Were the Skitarii human or metal? That was when she remembered that she did not ask her question yet.

"Are the Skitarii metal androids or men?" questioned the Atlesian. Ira's head turned around her shoulder to check who asked, upon seeing Weiss she turned to face her completely. Annoyed that she did not receive a reply yet she repeated herself, "Since I did not ask a question on the bullhead ride here, so I am asking my question now. Are the Skitarii metal androids or men?"

"They are not the androids of Atlas, but they are not only made of the weak flesh. They are seen fit to receive the graces of the Omnissiah, in return all they have to do is hear and obey. These exact Skitarii are relatively fresh converts which is why they can act of out of line," explained Dominus Ferrum as she gestured to the Skitarii setting up the bonfire.

Weiss attempted to continue the conversation, "That means they have free will?"

"You have already asked your question Heiress," Ira reminded her. The rest of the evening was silent, except for the rustling of leaves and weeds as the breeze flows thru the abandoned streets. The Skitarii stood outside the house they chose to set up camp in an eternal watch. Their cloaks was the only object on them that moved, pushed out of perfection by the chilled wind. Weiss tried to put the pieces together, they are…or _were_ humans that were augmented to act like androids. The idea was reasonably sounds, but it was not ethically sound. Why would anyone give up their will to choose for nothing in return? Maybe it was because of the cult they were indoctrinated into?

Doctor Oobleck walked thru the ruins of the streets with Ruby and the five Skitarii trailing behind him. He turned around the corner to spot something that he has never seen in a long time, a herd of six Goliath Grimm. The innocent teen was the first to break the silence of the group, "What _is_ that? It looks awesome!"

"That my dear girl, is a Grimm," informed the professor.

In her childish nature she raised her sniper rifle and pulled back the bolt to chamber a round. She commented, "Let's kill it."

He reasoned with her before she caused the doom of the entire mission, "I'm afraid your sniper rifle will do nothing more than agitate a Grimm of that size."

"But…what if it attacks us?" questioned the crimson student.

Doctor Oobleck warned her, "Fret not Ruby, those Goliaths are not concerned with us. Ruby, not every Grimm is mindless. Or rather not every Grimm is _still_ mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years. In that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they have done one important thing. They've _learned_. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die. And what we lack in strength, we make up for in will. And that killing one human will only bring more."

"Just because the xenos does not harm us now does not mean we have to spare it. They will be dealt with shortly," retorted the Skitarii Alpha.

The professor reminded him, "Wasn't the deal with the Headmaster that, if you want to commit to an orbital bombardment that you have to have his permission?"

"Who said it was going to be an orbital bombardment?" questioned the adept as the squad started to continue on with their search. The green haired teacher glanced down to meet Ruby in eyes, all we was greeted with was concern and confusion. Both of which will not help the effectiveness of the mission.

"Then what are you planning then?" asked Oobleck.

The answer was cryptic, "They will taste the power of Fury." On that note the Skitarii left the two pure humans to continue with the perimeter sweep.

"I can't believe we didn't find _anything_ ," commented Yang to her teammate who stood around the campfire.

After putting down the stick she was using to stoke the fire, Blake reasoned, "We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always have luck on our side."

"That's not what I meant," stated Weiss as she thru the conversation off topic. The confused look from her partner made her realize that they did not know what she was talking about. The Heiress explained, "Earlier, about…upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that."

The blonde bombshell agreed with her, "Yeah…No, me too. I mean…I don't know."

"I don't know, either. I know what I _want_ to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time," summarized the Faunus. She quickly check to make sure _they_ were now listening before continuing, "I expected to find something about the White Fang or the Adeptus Mechanicus by know, but as I said before luck is not with us today."

Her partner attempted to lighten the mood, "Well, it doesn't matter. _We_ know why we're here." The team was cloaked in pure silence. There would have been the ambient sound of crickets or any other species of bug, but none were found in the ruins under the stone glare of Mount Glenn. But something does darn to stir under the giant's gaze, the subtle sound of meat feet pushing against the loose rubble of the street.

As the patrol approached the building a voice called out from the darkness past the multitude of electronic blue eyes, "Ah, wonderful. A textbook campfire!"

Faster than their eyes could see, their team leader and her dog rushed to sit next to the fire. The first understandable words Ruby commented was, "So…warm…"

"Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?" questioned Doctor Oobleck to his four students.

"What about the Adeptus Mechanicus?" asked Blake.

The professor informed them, "Dominus Ferrum told me that they have enough supplies to last over the entire mission. They have their own camp set up in the abandoned building across the street."

"I'll take first watch," volunteered Ruby as she left the fire to go out into the frigid cold.

Her sister stopped her before she left the building, "Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean…what did you tell him?"

"Hmm…No, he didn't. Weird. Oh, well. Good night, guys!" recalled the team leader.

Three quarters of team RWBY unrolled their sleeping bags in a triangular pattern next to the fire to keep themselves warm. Their leader however sat on the floor above them, where the exterior wall was turned into rubble, as she watched over the city under the pale light of the shattered moon. Across the street she could not see and fires, but she saw pairs of light blue circles at every window. The lights never let the window throughout her entire night shift. Zwei walked up to her and nuzzles his head into her lap. She reassured the corgi, "Don't worry. Things will be better tomorrow."

In the darkness of Vale, the only light that shone onto the graveyard was from the shattered moon. A girl in her late teens dressed in all jet black stood before an unmarked grave silent as the dead. Her face was protected by the moonlight by her midnight black umbrella and a velvet bowler hat with burn marks around the edges. Anyone that walked by did not bother her except for a quick glance of confusion. As her lips moved without making a sound, multiple curses gave birth due to her unrelenting fury for _those_ murderers. She would _erase_ their existence from this planet even if it was the last thing that she would do. She no longer feared death, because it would only reunite her with the light of her world. Who was _wrongfully_ burnt out like a wick of a candle.


	22. Chapter 19

**Reviews:**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: The chapters will not stop being exported from the manufactorium as long as I have spare time. The abhumans will learn to fear the will of the Omnissiah! ALL PRAISES TO THE MACHINE GOD!**

 **Forge Master 00: I am wondering if Neo would blame Cinder or the Ad Mech for Roman's death. I have a poll about that on the discord server currently. I like the characters of Neo and Roman as well, and I will admit that I did Torchwick's death scene terribly. If Neo goes against the Ad Mech (which is what will probably happen), then she will have no chance to win. Can't wait for the next Omake chapter, take all the time you need to make it how you envision it. I might expand my choice of Forge World to add the lore as a factor, if I cannot find any suitable ones I might make a homebrew one. I am extremely interested in the game that you are building about the ad mech.**

 **Guest (First One): Trying to figure out who Neo would take revenge on, poll in the discord already. Dear Omnissiah, if there were any sororitas around then Emerald Forest would be ablaze.**

 **Sonic: Good to hear that you liked the chapter.**

 **Guest (Second One): Glad someone picked up on that. Pugnus will not let any enemies of the Adeptus Mechanicus escape judgement.**

 **AscendedHumanity: I do notice that, might make it less pronounced if you guys do not like it. I see Blake's character flaw as that she believes she can fix the situation by herself and runs away when she is in trouble. I personally believe that her views on everything are still affected by Adam's lies. For example viewing the White Fang as just misguided and anyone who fights them as either uninformed, racist, or defending themselves. As for her being paranoid, it is because the Ad Mech broadcast the names of the White Fang members that they have slaughtered. Blake fears that she might be added to the list.**

 **Guest (From Chapter 4): This review raises a good question, what would be a happy ending for this story? (Below are a short explanations about each potential ending)**

 **The Ad Mech and the four Kingdoms working together to destroy the Grimm just to coexist with each other afterword: That would not work, because of Pugnus' plans and Ironwoods ambitions. That would break their character. Happy ending but ruins the story**

 **The four kingdoms fight the Ad Mech off the planet after defeating Salem: That would result in the death of all of the named tech-priest before that would happen. The people in the discord server and multiple reviewers expressed their love for the Ad Mech, and it would take a miracle for the four kingdoms to defeat Pugnus. Not a happy ending.**

 **Magos Errant Verraeter helping Atlas against the Ad Mech: This would force Pugnus to leave no survivors during the battle of Atlas. Even if Pugnus was pushed off planet, then Remnant would taste orbital bombardment. Not a happy ending.**

 **The Ad Mech turning Atlas to rubble after slaying Salem: That would mean every named character from RWBY would either kneel to the Omnissiah or die. Not a happy ending.**

 **Also I noticed you said, "Our opinions" are you reading this story with someone else? I am also surprised you are calling the story grimdark at chapter 4, I thought it would have gone grimdark from chapter 10-12. I regret to inform you, but in the forty first millennium there is no happy endings, only victory or defeat. Bit sad that you will not see the answer to your review in a long time.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Notes: Discord code is 8CkRfd if you are interested. From my research I could not find a prayer to the Motive Force that fit the need of the scene. So I fabricated my own prayer to the Motive Force, which means it is NOT cannon to the Warhammer 40k universe. By the Omnissiah's shiny metal ass I am as active as the primarch of the Dark Angels. Finals are coming up so next chapter might be late, but on the bright side school is going to end soon so chapters might be posted either once or twice a week during the summer.**

Chapter Nineteen: The Force of Motives

Glynda was doing her nightly patrols thru the school to quickly send any students back to their dorms. That was when she say James in the distance overlooking Vale. She decided to put her duties aside to help a friend, "Trouble sleeping?"

Ironwood turned to face her as he grabbed his prosthetic with his other arm, "Arms was acting up."

"Of course, so logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance," sarcastically commented the professor. She quickly dropped the attitude, "What's wrong?"

"I've trusted him for years. We both have. I just…I can't help but feel like he's keeping us in the dark. I am starting to believe that the Adeptus Mechanicus is telling us more than Ozpin," confessed the general.

Glynda dismissed his claims, "Don't be ridiculous! You know very well that _we_ are not the ones in the dark."

He could not help but to laugh at her comment, "That makes it _worse_! I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so…passively. The Adeptus Mechanicus have the right idea with dealing with the Grimm, but they will betray us. We must strike first."

Professor Goodwitch reassured the conflicted man, "You're a good person, James. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable. But it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it. Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something worth remembering."

With the shattered moon high in the sky, Doctor Oobleck silently moved from the stone beam we was sleeping on to pier out into the ruined city. He spotted something unexpected rising from the Adeptus Mechanicus camp across the street. It appeared to be smoke but it was not from a campfire. It was incense. While most of the population of Remnant do not worship a god but still make reference to them, there is still a smaller portion of people who are devoted to one or multiple gods or goddesses. He never had the chance to see any rituals of the Cult Mechanicus, this was an opportunity to record some that has not been documented on this world before.

The professor choose the take the long way around to get to the building across the street, we did not want to surprise Miss Rose or be spotted by the Skitarii. He need to see the rituals without them knowing that he was there because a researcher must never interfere with the subject he is studying. Oobleck was forced to walk to the end of the block to cross the street, lucky for him the Skitarii have been extremely effective in their perimeter sweep leaving no Grimm to break his cover.

Once the green hair teacher reached the house next to his research subjects he started to hear static. He could easily deduce that the noise was the sound of their prayers, but having no idea what they were saying only hinders his findings. Moving slowly thru the rubble as to not make any sounds, Oobleck reached a superior position to see their rituals. What was surprising is that only the tech-priest was currently praying, he thought that the other Skitarii would join her in prayer. After all she was a tech- _priest_.

He watched silently as Dominus Ferrum stood in front of a shrine to Omnissiah, it could also be dedicated to their God Emperor hard to tell from the distance and the unique language all the words were written in. At different points in time the binary chants would halt for a short period as Ira moved the thurible to allow the incense to pour out of the holes slowly raising to the heavens. It was an interesting practice, which was related to the masses of the Jehovah Witnesses that populate this world. Doctor Oobleck had run into them once while on his twelfth mission, it was not a pleasant experience.

His train of thought was derailed by a mechanical voice, "Doctor Oobleck, I was not informed that you were performing another perimeter sweep." The teacher turned around to see one of the Skitarii pointing his wooden rifle at him. With no response from the professor the cyborg advanced the conversation, "What are you doing here?"

"I noticed the incense coming from your camp and I was curious about the practices of your religion for research," confessed the green haired man. He knew that there was no point lying to the person with a computer for a brain, at least the tech-priest he assumed that the Skitarii would be given the same treatment. The soldier lowered his rifle as gestured for him to follow. Curious at what was happening he obeyed, trailing behind the Skitarii to the room Dominus Ferrum was praying in.

The room was mostly covered in darkness, the moonlight did little but the blue pair of eyes showed the teacher that he was not alone in the room. Ira stepped out of the darkness holding the thurible in one hand and her axe in the other. The only sound was the slow and lethargic shifting of chains on the incense burner as the tech-priest approached him. The professor gripped tighter onto his thermos once he saw she was still armed. The tension in the room was broken when she spoke first, "Doctor Oobleck, if you wanted to be present in the rituals of the Cult Mechanicus you should have just asked. All are welcome to pray to the Machine God."

He attempted to correct her, "You seem to misunderstand what I am doing. I am not here to pray but to conduct research on your religion's practices."

"What better way to learn than by first-hand experience?" countered Dominus Ferrum as she shifted back to the shrine. She placed the thurible onto a holder to free up her right hand, for what he did not know. A small flame appeared from one of her fingers, and with a slow wave of the arm the candles surrounding the shire were lit. He could see that this shrine was dedicated to something that he was unfamiliar with. It was a pure human with blue tinted skin as electricity flows from his veins to his fingertips, this was definitely not the Omnissiah but maybe it was their God Emperor?

Oobleck had to know, "Apologies for interrupting, but who are you praying to. Is it safe to assume that is not Omnissiah but the God Emperor?"

"The answer is…complicated. The Cult Mechanicus worships the divine metal trinity, Omnissiah, God Emperor, and the Motive Force. Omnissiah or Machine God is the one of the three most prayed to in the Adeptus Mechanicus, he is represented by the blessed machine. The God Emperor is the Omnissiah made flesh. Most Adepts do not pray to him, favoring to pray to the Omnissiah himself. The last of the trinity is the Motive Force which is an ineffable and invisible divine power that exist throughout the universe that was responsible for the ability of all life. Whether it was mechanical or flesh, but it is the most forgotten of the three. The electro-priests are the most fanatic followers of it, they are able to call upon its power and summon lighting to fray the enemies of the Cult Mechanicus. I do pray to the Motive Force before battle to allow my enemies to lose their connection to it," explained the tech-priest.

Ira turned back to the shrine and began the chants, but this time in a tongue the doctor could understand, "All glory to the domains of the Adeptus Mechanicus, which protected the wisdom of the past, be harnessed by her holy adepts, and so call forth the Motive Force unto the enemies of the Omnissiah, and return their essence back from where it was created. Sing the praises of the Motive Force, so that it might fill us with rage in battle. May the Omnissiah allow us to humbly guide the rage of the machine spirits to those who seek to defile them. Sing the praises of the Motive Force made light, the photonic sword of the Omnissiah. May it cut thru the inferior enemies of man, as a plasma torch does to plasteel. Sing praises for the Motive Force so that it might guide us to the slaughter of the enemy."

Doctor Oobleck was getting worried for the directing the prayers were heading. While most religions pray for peace, love, compassion, and forgiveness. The Cult Mechanicus prays for wrath, fury, vengeance, and death. He wanted to leave the room fearing for his safety. While the teacher knew they would never harm him, if he insulted their gods it might mean his untimely demise. Oobleck was starting to figure out why they call themselves a cult. The only problem preventing him from returning to team RWBY was the Skitarii was standing in the only doorway in the room that lead outside, he could use the windows but that was a last resort. With no other choice he waited for the tech-priest to finish the ritual.

"Blake, are you awake?" asked Yang from her sleeping bag. Once she received a curt reply from her partner she continued the questioning, "Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"

The Faunus proposed, "Maybe he was just curious."

The blonde was surprised, "You think?"

"No," answered Blake.

Done with her current conversation Yang move to her other teammate, "Weiss, are you awake?"

A little bit cranky from the lack of sleep she nagged, "Of course I'm awake! You two are talking. And I think he…when I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But, it's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a…moral gray area."

"That's putting it lightly," commented the ex-terrorist.

Despite the interruption the Heiress continued, "Which is why I feel the need to make things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."

Feeling it was her turn to speak, Blake explained, "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the noblest warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what will I…how can I undo so many years of hate?"

"I'm sure you'd figure it out. You're not one to back dome from a challenge Blake," reassured her partner.

Her usual face of calm shattered as her eyes were filled with fear, "But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself. An empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!"

It was now Yang's turn, "At least you two have something that drives you. I've just kinda of always, gone with the flow, y'know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanted a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that. I'm not like Ruby. She's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she _knew_ that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today."

"Well, she's still just a kid," mentioned the Heiress.

Blake corrected her, "She's only two years younger. We're all kids."

"Well, not anymore. I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth!" countered Yang.

"It's the life we chose," added her partner.

Weiss summed up everything, "It's a job. We all had this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads! But at the end of the day, it's a job to protect the people! And whatever we want, will have to come second."

Dominus Ferrum turned to face the professor, he appeared scared and worried. "What is wrong?" she questioned.

He responded slowly, "It was your prayers, not to say that you should stop praying. But that I have not encountered a religion that asks for wrath and vengeance instead of peace and forgiveness. I am not saying it is wrong but it is…unique."

"That is because the Motive Force is harnessed for war, so we pray to it for what is needed in war. Unbridled fury, devastating wrath, and overdue vengeance. Our other prayers are different but not is not the time to omit those chants because we are in a warzone," lied the tech-priest thru her metal mouth.

To Doctor Oobleck, the tech-priests reasoning did hold fact on this world. He could count off many religions that had a god they prayed to for war, but those prayers are for protection, guidance, and vengeance. His train of thought was broken by a binary emission from the floor below. The Skitarii at the door, responded with another burst of static. During the entire conversation, Dominus Ferrum stared out the window silently.

"Instead of focusing on learning something new, Doctor Oobleck. You should work on retaining and perfecting what you already have," commented Ira without even turning to face him.

That was completely out of the blue for the professor, but if he could understand their language he might be able to understand. "Could you give an example?" questioned Oobleck.

The female tech-priest stated, "Instead of researching the ritual of the Cult Mechanicus, you should make sure that Ruby Rose stays at the designated camp."

Something rushed thru Doctor Oobleck that should never enter the mind of a huntsmen, fear. He fear that his ambition to learn would have cost him a student. Not just any student, but one on a mission not suited for them that Ozpin approved of. Even though the Headmaster tries to keep him out of the inner circle, it is clear he has plans for Ruby Rose. If she were to die under his protection it would mean the end of his career, and maybe the end of Beacon's reputation. He had to ask, "Where is she?"

"She is currently following her dog thru the ruined streets, five Skitarii will accompany you in finding her. I will oversee the rest of team RWBY while you are gone," ordered Dominus Ferrum as the Skitarii at the doorway gestured for the professor to follow him.

 **Afterword: Sorry for cutting it short, just want to get the chapter out before the weekend.**


	23. Chapter 20

**Reviews:**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: Ironwood believes his army is superior because he has not seen any major Adeptus Mechanicus Aerial Force besides transport VTOLs. Since the Ad Mech does codex does not contain dedicated flyers or any forms of transport, he is not entirely wrong.**

 **Forge Master 00: It is perfectly acceptable if your Omake chapters come out later than you would have wanted. I am interested on how you would incorporate the Brothers into the WH 40k universe. I plan for them to be entities of the warp not linked to Chaos, might change it because as an Ad Mech player I know minimal about the warp. I personally love games with limited graphics, mostly because my computer cannot run games with over the top graphics.**

 **Lord Anime: I have two volunteer pre-readers from the discord. Misspelled/wrong words is something that I hate as well. If anyone wants to become a pre-reader, you just have to join the discord. I will still pre-read the chapters myself, but the more eyes checking leaves less room for errors.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers: jamie and valrak make me a mod (JVMMM)**

 **Notes: Discord code is 8CkRfd. I found out recently that my friends in my Arma group featured in this story also play warhammer 40k as well. Got to say that JVMMM did wonders, he gave me ideas for scenes on top of fixing my grammar. JVMMM also pointed out that during the vote for if Penny should die, it was 5 to 4 in favor of executing the heretical creation. This error may be corrected in the future.**

Chapter Twenty: Deserters, Disappointment, and Traitors

It was currently Yang's turn on the night watch, nothing moved under the light of the shattered moon. There was not even a slow breeze to sway the weeds growing through the cracks of the dead city. The first sound to break the pristine silence of the dark was of metal against stone. Her white robe covered her metal parts that reflected the moonlights unto the rubble that is left of the roads. Two electric blue ovals pierced through the blackness created by her hood. The blonde called out from her post, "What ya doing down there?"

"Making sure your team is behaving," answered the tech-priest without breaking stride. Without resistance she entered the camp.

Yang left her post to enter the sleeping room to see what was happening. Upon seeing the dominus standing in the corner of the room, she countered, "I thought that was Professor Oobleck's job."

" _Doctor_ Oobleck is currently tasked with something else," corrected Ira. The other two members of the team stirred from their slumber due to the conversation.

The bombshell was trying to piece everything together, "If Oobleck is not here, than where would he be?! It is not like he would leave the four of…" Her words died in her mouth as her lilac eyes stopped upon the empty sleeping bag of her sister.

The tech-priest explained, "That is what Doctor Oobleck is finding." Her emotionless state was not helping the remnants of team RWBY remain calm.

"Then why aren't WE looking for Ruby! She is our leader for the Brothers' sake!" yelled the heiress as she stood up to meet Ira's eye level. The cyborg did not even flinch at the raise in volume.

Dominus Ferrum elaborated, "Watch your tone with me feudal. None of you are in condition to participate in the search, to send you all out would risk the mission. Doctor Oobleck will find Ruby and determine her punishment."

In a surprising turn of events, the heiress defended her partner, "What would she be punished for! If anything you should be _punished_ for not letting us help our team!" The Schnee was now in Ira's face and showing no signs of backing down.

The tech-priest was silent and did not audibly react to the berating. But Yang did see the white robes were slowly shifting by something moving underneath. Five metallic snakes thrust out from under her cloak in a flash. They stopped before they hit pressure points and major arteries of the Atlesian. "Miss Rose is currently be regarded as a deserter, and is no longer part of your team. She did not leave a note saying where she was going. She did not even tell her sister, who was awake at the time of disappearance, where she was going. You children forget that you are Vale's only defense besides the poorly armed police. Atlas will not always be around to protect your city. Choose your next words carefully Miss Schnee, unless you are a conspirator with the deserter," warned Ira. With limited options, Weiss backed away to stand next to her team.

Lilac turned to red in a flash of fire, "My sister would never abandon us, you metal son of a _glitch_!" The iron tentacles retracted back into the shadows of the folds of white fabric as she simply gestured to the empty sleeping bag.

Doctor Oobleck was not having a marvelous day. He was trying his best to keep up with the sprinting Skitarii, but the one named Daniel stayed next to him the entire time. Maybe the soldier of the Adeptus Mechanicus have a life outside their war, maybe he could retain his life if he became a tech…no, now is not the time to think about that. Right now he had to focus on finding his lost student. "Any idea if we are going in the correct direction?"

Daniel stated without breaking stride, "Auspex scans show that something in this direction has a beating heart. It can range anywhere from Miss Rose to the White Fang."

"Is your technology that hindering to the point that which you cannot find a single person in an empty city!" snapped the professor. The Skitarii turned his head to face him, neither of them said a word. Oobleck lowered his head as he apologized, "Sorry for breaking there. This whole problem was my fault because I was not overseeing my students." Static burst came out of from Daniel, the other Skitarii did not react. He was not giving out orders, something else was happening

The Skitarii Alpha explained, "While the blame can be placed on you, it was not solely your fault. Miss Rose did not inform any of her team before deserting. And her sister who was on the night watch did not notice her leaving. Therefore the desertion was a shared failure between you and the night's watch" The Doctor noticed how the words used to describe what Ruby was doing went from chasing her dog to deserting.

The professor stopped Daniel before he could continue, "We will discuss who to blame later, right not it is our duty to find Ruby Rose."

"I hear and I obey," replied Daniel as the search party went quiet again. Left alone in silence, Oobleck's mind could not help but to wander like a curious child walking through empty streets. Nothing obstructed him, and the wonder of anything that he found carried him onward.

After his tangent of thoughts scoured half of the imaginary city one of the Skitarii reported, "HVT spotted following one times sentry team of White Fang." Daniel moved closer to the enemy, his augments allowed him to hear the conversation. Accessing the noosphere, he sent out orders to his squad and a report to the dominus. A firing line was formed and opened fire within seconds. Two shot into the chest of the terrorist on the left, and two holes instead of knees for the Faunus on the right. A loud 'eep' could be heard from Ruby as she turned to see the Skitarii.

The Skitarii Alpha hosteled the Forge World's galvanic rifle that was given to him. While the fresh converts call their equipment their own, they are wrong. They and everything they carry is owned by the Adeptus Mechanicus, not the individual. What he saw in front of him was completely pathetic. The abhuman was crying out or his birth parent, gods, and anyone for mercy. _Mercy_. The only being that could provide mercy is the Omnissiah, how disappointing that he chose to pray to heretical gods before the only true one. Kneeling down, the Skitarii whispered into the Faunus' ear. "No heretical god can save you now. Renounce those pagan gods and tell us where your base is. That is the only way you can receive mercy."

"Please…have…mercy," stuttered out the terrorist as he writhed on the dirty ruined road. The Ranger Alpha could see that dirt from the ground collected onto his wounds every time he moved, if the blood loss would not kill him than the curses of the lord of decay would. A metallic hand clamped over the abhuman's mouth to not break the doctor and student away from their conversation. Muffled cries of pain and agony could not escape his iron fist.

Daniel threatened the prisoner, "Once you calm down I will release my hand, until then be silent for you shall me you comrade within seconds." This only worsened the situation, his cries and movements were becoming more sporadic. But yet his metal grip remained. Weak punched bounced off his armor, the animal was committing his last acts of defiance.

Doctor Oobleck ran towards his student as Daniel approached the legless White Fang member. The crimson team leader mumbled as she rubbed to back of her neck, "Professor Oobleck. Didn't expect you to follow me." Embarrassment make her cheeks as red as her hood.

He placed his hand on her shoulder to calm her down, "It is _Doctor_ Oobleck." It did get a halfhearted chuckle out of the girl, but he was not finished talking, "Ruby, why did you leave the camp?" Her eyes hit the floor in a second.

The deserter explained, "Well, Zwei woke me up. But that's normal, he does it all the time he is near me sleeping. Then he started running off, so I followed him. Turns out he left camp to…relieve himself? I do not know why he went so far. Then we encountered the White-" Her story was cut short with a blood curdling scream came from the prisoner. Ruby's eyes were filled with fear and her mouth was agape as she hear the pleas of mercy from the terrorist.

A metallic voice silenced the Faunus, "You will receive mercy once you tell me where you base of operations is. Or do you want your arms to match your legs in length?" The man devolved into a ball of tears and whimpering, Daniel quickly reapplied his grip on his mouth. He turned to the other Skitarii, bursts of static signaled that they were having a conversation. Multiple gestures were made to the prisoner and to their equipment.

"…Fang patrol. So using the skills I naturally perfected, I followed silently behind to find out where their local base is. Then you guys found me. Yeah, that's about it," finished Ruby. Doctor Oobleck could not blame for his students curiosity taking over them, maybe they do pay attention in his class. He might take her name off of the list of students who use his class as a break. The professor could understand why they slept in Port's class, even his boundless energy was put to slumber by his pointless speeches.

Oobleck informed her, "While you will not be punished for leaving your team, you should have told somebody that you were leaving to follow Zwei. Or at the least have written a note or sent a message from your scroll. Remember, I am not mad at you. Just extremely disappointed. Ruby, you scared your entire team and myself. If this ever happens again in the field, that might mean the death of somebody. Whether that be a civilian, a friend, or yourself." The doctor gave Ruby space to think, he had to check in with the Skitarii.

The Alpha Skitarii was done interrogating the abhuman, its cries and pleas continued on into the night. While he did not receive an exact location of the base, Daniel did know that there was a confirmed White Fang base nearby. Doctor Oobleck approached him a simple question was asked, "What did you find out?"

"Not enough. I assume you might be a better good cop than my Skitarii comrades?" retorted Daniel. During their time on this bastardized feudal world, Magos Dominus Pugnus ordered them to use local terms to help communicate with the locals. While the Alpha Skitarii hated the idea, who was he to disobey a direct order. The professor knelt beside the prisoner and placed his hand near the stumps that were his legs. Muttering under his breath and concentration his aura, the professor allowed the enemy to unlock his soul in order to protect himself. The flash of aura was a sickly green color, similar to his own but Oobleck felt as if it was a corrupted version of his aura color.

Oobleck offered, "Hello friend, I am Doctor Oobleck of Beacon Academy. I can call for a bullhead to take you to a hospital, but all you have to do is tell me where your base is so that we can bury your comrade amongst his brothers and sisters."

"Why should I trust you?" countered the Faunus.

"If you do not then you will die. All we need in the place to bury you friend, and then I can take you to a hospital," repeated the professor. The Alpha had to admit that the primitive was convincing. He influenced the abhuman to think about his comrade and saving himself rather than betraying his comrades that have a hope of seeing the next dawn.

Without a better option he confessed, "Mount Glenn, the White Fang base is in-" A single round of a Galvanic Rifle silenced the Faunus before he could finish. Doctor Oobleck turned to face the Alpha Skitarii. The professor's face was filled with shock, betrayal, and hatred. Another 'eep' escaped from the young student.

Daniel lied, "He was going to bleed out before the bullhead would even arrive. Consider this a mercy." In truth he killed him to keep his word of giving the abhuman a different kind of mercy, his unclean life would be ended swiftly as to cure this world of his corruption. The abhuman's soul is without the guidance of the Omnissiah and the Motive Force will not accept him, leaving nothing to protect the abhuman from the terrors of the Warp.

Doctor Oobleck finally realized what the recently passed White Fang member meant, "How could I be so stupid! Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"

He received confused looks from Miss Rose and the Skitarii. That was until the Alpha Skitarii spoke up, "The underground crime network that we are looking for is, therefore actually underground in caves."

"No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival. They took up shelter beneath the city! In massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!" the professor corrected.

"Like an underground city?" asked the crimson teen.

He chose to elaborate on her choice of words, "In a manner of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until…an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb" Static erupted from the Skitarii, a few of them have holstered their weapons to pull out strange devices. Without telling them anything the marched down the empty streets of Mountain Glenn.

Dominus Ferrum had been eerily quiet the entire time she was in the room. Never did she move or sleep, but her mechanical eyes never moved away from the student. They were all worried about Ruby, and thus none of them could speak. She finally spoke after what felt like an eternity, "The patrol has found Miss Rose, and discovered where the White Fang base has been located. The assault will begin shortly, would you care to join us?"

Blake turned around on her sleeping bag to face the tech-priest, "How?"

"Miss Rose was not a deserter, turns out she was following her dog which is designated as Zwei. During her absence from camp, the two of them accidently ran into a White Fang sentry team. The Skitarii search team lead by Doctor Oobleck engaged the terrorists and questioned them for the location of the base," reported Ira. Weiss could tell she left out a few details for reasons unknown. The female adept walked out of the building silently and continued down the streets. The three members of team RWBY that were left at the camp glanced a look at one another before rushing for their weapons.

Doctor Oobleck walked silently behind the squad of Skitarii, wondering what they were holding. Behind him was the student Ruby who was holding onto her corgi so it would not run away again. Their formation of the patrol was different this time. The Skitarii with the scanner was in the front of the group with the Ranger carrying the strange device beside him. The three other soldiers were behind them with their rifles pointed at the surrounding windows. They were on edge now that there was a confirmed enemy presence, did they not believe the students earlier? The Skitarii with the scanner stopped, a burst of static escaped his faceplate as the squad dispersed into the empty buildings. Daniel signaled for him and Ruby to follow him, curious at what was happening so they followed.

Once they were positioned at a window of a nearby house, the Alpha explained. "Currently the White Fang are below us. Skitarii Ranger-6121, is planting an explosive charge on the breaching point. Blueprints show that there should be a tall building below us which we will land on."

Ruby dropped Zwei and readied her scythe-sniper rifle, "Let's go right now than!"

"Do you not want to wait for your team to regroup first?" countered Daniel.

Yang was currently not having fun like she expected. She, Blake, and Weiss had problems keeping up with the _sprinting_ cyborgs. They did not even slow down when turning around corners. Effortlessly they jumped over potholes without breaking stride, but the blonde was surprised that the heiress with her heels did not trip yet. "Yo, iron lady! Can't ya slow down?" complained the bombshell of Beacon.

Dominus Ferrum countered, "Do you, or do you not want to see your half-sister before dawn?" The students were silenced, and their complaints fizzled out into the empty streets. But it did not last for long. Whenever they emerged, Ira would simply repeat herself. At least she now had a reason she only worked with Skitarii, they can't complain if you take their function to talk.

Magos Dominus Pugnus was sitting on his flagship, the _Astral Knight_ , reviewing his plans for the future. He had enough resources to exterminate the Grimm from this planet without a doubt, but that is only if the feudals are compliant and nothing unexpected pops out of nowhere. But that always happens, how else do you think the orks are still alive? They always build something that _should_ not work by any means necessary _but_ if fracking does. Non-machine spirit using heretek xenos scum. So he made a simple call with an old friend, of course he had to spend one of the favors the person owed him but it would guarantee that this planet will fall. Only problem is if he will get here in time for the Extermination Campaign.

Magos Errant Verraeter was silently sitting in his _official_ office, Doctor Polendina's office. His fake skin was one which allowed him to hide amongst the flesh bags. That was when he received a strange text onto his scroll. _'Doctor Polendina, this is Arthur Watt. I have a job offer for you, but it requires working with the Grimm.'_ So that disgraced doctor is still alive. While he would like to meet his old college again, his pride as a servant of the Omnissiah does not allow him stoop low and work with Grimm. The tech-priest replied, _'You openly admit to conspiring with the enemies of man. I shall guide the wrath of the machines upon your foul comrades.'_


	24. Chapter 21

**Reviews:**

 **Guest: Pugnus could do that, but he does not known where Salem is and he does not know that she even exists. But if Salem is say, underground then orbital bombardment would be pointless.**

 **Jane Rolfe Jalandoni: Do not worry, for Pugnus will** _ **spare**_ **Ironwood so he can watch Atlas burn. All praises to the metal messiah!**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Demon/Possessed**

 **Chapter's Pre-readers: JVMMM and Xenolis 2**

 **Notes: Discord code is 8CkRfd. This chapter is going to feature the people who are hired by the White Fang to replace Torchwick. They are fun to write, so hopefully you like them as well. Ad mech transport just got announced! YES! YES! YES!**

Chapter Twenty-One: Back on Tracks

Skitarii Ranger Alpha-9342 watched the feudal squad, designated as RWBY, silently. The chronometer inbuilt in him slowly counted down, his squad was also connected to the device to maximize efficiency. Instead of preparing, the teens were informing each other of what had happened. How primitive and undisciplined. The chronometer hit zero, matching the fuse on the bomb with a millisecond of variation. Without hesitation the squad of Skitarii jumped into the fray. While most members of the Legiones Skitarii are silent in battle to hear orders, forge world Metalica doctrine does something else. Deafening Assault. With voxs turned to eleven, the Benediction of the Omnissiah echoed through the empty streets of the undercity. The few Faunus unlikely enough to be under the breach point were stomped on by their metal legs, necks snapping skulls breaking at the sheer force of the attacks. Any terrorist surrounding the breach were swiftly silenced by galvanic rifles.

Dominus Ferrum watched as the hidden Faunus had covered her ears while the squad breached the outpost. "Going down?" asked Ira as she followed her fellow adepts. The huntsman and huntresses-in-training, without another option they jumped into the hole. Ruby covered her nose from the stench of death already present, ignoring the bodies Blake glared at the soldiers white robes already stained crimson. The tech-priest started giving out orders, "Alpha team will clear left, while Beta team will cover right. Start the Protector Doctrina Imperative, only spare those who surrender. Set the chronometer to 5.24 seconds, at 0.00 seconds breach the next door. Doctor Oobleck, I assume you can direct team RWBY to fill in the gaps in our attack?"

The professor knelt before team RWBY. "You do not have to kill anyone tonight, but do whatever it takes to save your teammates. Remem-" His pep talk was put on hold by the Alpha kicking the door in. Without remorse the Skitarii killed any terrorists in their sights. Oobleck continued, "Come on girls, duty calls!" He lightly jogged after Dominus Ferrum who was staying in the center of the metal formation. The students rushed past the firing lines and engaged the Faunus in melee, forcing the galvanic rifles to be silent.

Ira snapped her head to Alpha team, -WHY ARE YOU NOT FIRING YOUR WEAPONS!-

-Tech-priest Dominus, the juvenile hunters are in our line of fire. If we fire, we risk hitting them.- responded Daniel. As he watched her faceplate, the skin that was left was twitching rapidly.

With venom coursing through her voice, the tech-priest ordered. -Let us teach them the why you do not move into your ally's firing line.-

The Alpha muttered a pray to the Omnissiah under his breath before responded. -I hear and obey.-

Yang punched the first Faunus she came in contact with into the nearby building. Continuing the momentum, a hook knocked out the second. Flowing with her speed, she spun around a third and backhanded the fourth. That was when bullets started to fly past her, not from the White Fang but the cyborgs. A single stray round slammed into her aura protected back. Her eyes turned red as she spun around on her heels. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE POINTING THOSE PIECES OF SCRAP!"

Oobleck marched up to the tech-priest, he was pissed. "Why are _your_ soldiers firing upon _my_ students!?" He demanded over the gunfire.

She calmly turned around. "Was it not your students who ran into _my_ soldiers' line of fire? I thought they taught team coordination at Beacon, or is Professor Goodwitch not up to standard with what she teaches?" A static screech stopped the argument, without hesitation Ira ran towards the Skitarii. The professor turned around to see the soldier lying on the ground putting pressure on his stomach, blood and oil were slipping thru his metal fingers.

-Dominus Ferrum while my flesh will decay, take my blessed augments so another can answer the Omnissiah's call to war.- stated Skitarii Ranger-4880 while Ira cradled his head in her arms.

Her reply was blunt. -You were hit in your lower chest region. You will die within the next 5 minutes, but that does not mean you can't serve the Omnissiah. While you breathe you will keep firing.- She let go of him and silently walked back to the professor.

His eyebrows were knit together. Oobleck was concerned, "Is he going to make it?"

"No, but his equipment will be put back into the stockpile for the next recruit who will take his place," explained the female tech-priest.

The doctor suggested, "I could unlock his aura an-"

Ira cut him off, "No." Oobleck looked back to the wounded Skitarii, the stain on his robes was growing bigger by the second. Yet he was still in formation firing his rifle, no screams of pain, no tears, and no remorse was shown in any of the soldiers. He was sure they knew their comrade was going to die, but they did not react.

The first skirmish was mopped up quickly, Skitarii Ranger-4880 collapsed during one of the volleys. The soldiers in his squad only reformed ranks, none looking at their comrade. Team RWBY rejoin the group as they started pushing toward the main street, none of them looked happy.

"You tin cans need to watch where you are shooting! You almost killed us!" berated Weiss. The Skitarii ignored her, their voxs continued with the constant output of static. The Schnee demanded, "What the hell are they saying, there is no reason all of them should be talking for no reason!"

"They are praying Miss Schnee," answered Ira. Upon receiving confused looks from the feudals she translated, "Immortal Omnissiah hear our prayers. We are your servants, the executors of your Grand Design. We march into the crucible of war, and we beseech you to walk by our side. Bestow upon us the blessings of your omniscient sight and direct us where you will. By our action may your Grand Design be wrought upon the stars. Omnissiah bless us all, may we bring glory unto thee."

Ruby was the only member of team RWBY not staring at the tech-priest, instead she was inspecting the rifles held by the Skitarii. This was the first time she saw them fire in person, and it appeared they fired lighting, the charred and frizzled corpses helped her figure that out. But then she realized something. "Where did the tenth soldier go?" she asked.

Dominus Ferrum causally gestured to the apprehended wheelbarrow behind her. Inside it was the contorted form of a man, his robes were no longer pure instead stained with a crimson insult. His equipment was missing from their pouches, his rifle no longer in his hands. For it was never his to own, the rifle will move onto the next host to continue the Omnissiah's will. Ira informed them, "Come on, our mission is not over yet. We need to keep the momentum of our attack."

A high pitch screech could be hear throughout the undercity, somebody was using the intercom. A slurred voice spoke through the machines, "We are leaving this dump. We also ran out of MEAD! Bird-man! Go and get me some kind of alcohol."

In the background a faint voice could be heard, "But only fire-man has mead."

"To hell with him then! Just get me some fucking mead!" yelled the original voice who still had the intercom on, for some reason. The signature sound of a train horn could be heard echoing through the empty abyss of the undercity.

Dominus Ferrum did not even need to order her Skitarii, for their Alpha was smart enough to know what was required of them. The forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus started sprinted down the streets, while their feudal allies stayed where they were. Oobleck asked her, "What are you doing?"

"We are derailing their plans," jested Ira as her mechadendrites carried the wheelbarrow behind her. Team RWBY and their teacher were quick to follow. Getting onto the train was a simple task, since the caboose had their rear door open and no guards were there to stop them. Although they had to abandon the wheelbarrow, nothing of value was lost.

"Sir Bar! They made it on the train!" reported a Faunus grunt as he entered the control room of the train. Brenn Bar slowly turned around to face the White Fang member. His form was easily intimidating. He was covered from his shoulders to his feet was a flame retardant suit that was designed and colored to appear as a crimson tuxedo. A gas mask was strapped to his head, but it was positioned to leave his mouth uncovered. The skin around his mouth was partly peeling off, and his teeth were crooked and falling out.

His raspy voice softly, similar to a mother speaking to a child, "Then I would highly suggest you get them off this train. Because we are now over the regulation passenger capacity, and I would _hate_ to remove you instead." The terrorist frantically nodded before leaving the control room.

"How uncivilized," muttered Brenn. The White Fang member next to him glared at the pyromaniac. Sir Bar threatened him, "Why are you not helping your comrades? Are you a deserter? Your superior officers told me I could civilize any cur who abandons their brothers in arms."

Team RWBY sat on the top of the train with the squad of Skitarii, they were currently planning the assault to clear out the train. Dominus Ferrum calculated, "The squad of Skitarii will stay on the roof of the train, the rest of you can go through the train cars. Since the White Fang hate us, we will draw them away from you leaving the path to the control room clear."

Weiss opened the hatch to enter the train itself, but a strange device was sitting there. A metal cylinder with multiple wires connecting different parts of it. "What is that?" she questioned.

Doctor Oobleck cleaned his glasses with his shirt before inspecting the device. He informed the group, "That my dear…appears to be a bomb."

The Alpha reported, "Multiple unarmed terrorist approaching from the middle cars." Ira could see more climbing from the cattle cars, a few of them were armed.

-Eliminate them, - ordered Ira as a beeping noise could be heard at their feet. Turns out that the bomb has armed itself, and the machine spirit in the device was an amalgamation of multiple young machines. How ungrateful. Thankfully the students did not need to be told to get away from the explosive. Doctor Oobleck did say something to the Faunus, but the tech-priest was focusing on calculating if her nine Skitarii can hold off the hoard of abhumans.

A concerned voice halted her train of thought, "There is another bomb here!" The professor muttered to himself as he checked the next car.

"They _all_ have bombs!" warned Oobleck. Without hesitation, all of them jumped to the next car. By now they hoard of White Fang had reached them.

Their officer yelled, "Death to the humans!" The Rangers formed a two rank deep firing line.

"Death to the hereteks," countered Dominus Ferrum as her soldiers opened fired. Needless to say it was an execution, the first to fall caused some of their comrades to trip on them. A few unlucky fell off the train unto the rails below. Their skulls crushed by the wheels of the locomotive. Team RWBY jumped into the melee to protect the Skitarii, their skill easily outmatched the poorly equipped and barely trained terrorists. The tech-priest ordered to her squad, -Follow behind team RWBY. Remember, no survivors.-

Doctor Oobleck watched as the next car exploded behind them, creating a hole in the tunnel. The bright sunlight was pouring into the dimly lit cavern, but shadows descended from the light. Grimm of a multitude of types were chasing after the train, this was not good at all. He proposed his theory, "He's leading Grimm to the city with the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"

Dominus Ferrum turned to face the professor. She informed him, "Since this concerns the protection of your people, you can give the orders doctor."

He was quick on his feet, Oobleck took the reins of the mission. "Team RWBY will go into the train and stop it at the control room. Zwei, the adepts of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and I will stay up here as a distraction," ordered the professor. The plan did take ideas from the original one, but his kept all of the strongest members as a distraction. Logic dictates that this will only work if the strongest enemies fall for the feint.

Team RWBY jumped into the first car without a bomb, inside the grey interior was a few stacks of boxes scattered around the room. But a figure was hunched over one of the boxes, its contents were scattered across the floor. He was looking for something, Blake could hear him muttering 'Klept' over and over again. The man had a chainmail shirt on, and two black appendages protruded out of his back. The silence of the room was broken when he sneezed. "Bird-man allergic to cat." The now named birdman stood up from the boxes, his appendages unfolded into two giant raven black wings. He pulled out his weapons, a shield and flail, and readied himself.

"You three go on ahead. This one's mine," stated Yang as she raised her fists into a guard. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake headed her words and moved to the next room.

Birdman said in a perfect duplication of Yang's voice, "This one's mine." A shotgun round slammed into his shield. The Faunus lifted himself off the ground with his wings, his midnight black aura covered his body. With his shield raised he charged the blonde. She countered his charge with a fierce left hook. With ease, birdman used the chain of his flail to wrap around her arm. He used her momentum and his grip on her arm to fling her across the room into the door she teammates.

Ruby heard someone hit the door behind her. "Yang, you okay in there?" she asked.

She heard her sister's voice, "You three go ahead." Thankfully she was still awake, hopefully Yang could defeat the bird Faunus. Down the car from them was an extremely tall and bulky White Fang member wielding a chainsaw that scrapped against the metal floor as he approached them.

"You two go ahead!" ordered Weiss as drew nearer to the terrorist. The lieutenant chuckled as he prepared for a strike, but Blake's blade deflected it giving the heiress time to dodge out of the way.

Weiss delivered multiple slashes and stabs with her rapier at her opponent. Since he wielded a bulky weapon it was difficult for him to block the onslaught, but not impossible. Finishing her attack with an upward strike, the White Fang member hit the ground. The heiress smiled to her team leader and Faunus friend as they went into the next room. The lieutenant slowly stood up chuckling, "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee."

Blake and Ruby entered the final train car before the control room. Their last obstacle in the way to completing the mission was a guy laying his back against the door with a bottle of whiskey in his hand which he was currently chugging. His clothes were a mess, and his blonde hair was unkempt. The man slurred, "You aren't bird-man. Do any of you have more mead by any chance?"

Blake questioned him, "Isn't racist to call him _bird_ -man?"

"No, because I don't give a shit. Bird-man is bird-man, and that is final!" he yelled as he swung his bottle thru the air.

Blake attempted to use his alcoholism against him, "I think there might be some more beer in the room behind you. Let us pass and we can get you some."

The drunkard went silent as he stared into his bottle, "I am running low, and there is more back there. Fire-man is a bitch ya know. He wants company but turns out that does not include me. He calls me an inebriate! I can't even spell it, nor do I know what it means." He finally stood up from the ground and dusted off his pants. Out of his pockets he pulled out a syringe with an orange tip. In a swift and practiced motion he injected it into his left arm, after finishing he charged at Ruby.

"Blake, go ahead. I got him," ordered the crimson reaper. The drunk man attempted to throw a highly projected haymaker. Ruby used the shaft of her scythe to block the attack, activating her semblance she went to the door they came from.

The man told the Faunus, "Cat person, make sure to bring me some mead from the next room when you are done." Blake glared at him before entering the control room.

The control room itself was pitch black and it had a weird smell, but her Faunus heritage allowed her to see silhouettes in the room. Nobody was at the control panels, but she would not know what buttons to press unless she could read the instruction manual. The lightbulbs in the room were shattered, something was wrong. That was when she realized that the smell was alcohol, and it was poured across the entire floor. A soft and raspy voice spoke, "Have you ever heard the phrase, _'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.'_? I can assure you that there will be no satisfaction to find here. Allow me to bright light unto this statement." A small match was lit in the corner of the room, which allowed her to see the man's face. He was wearing a tie, and a gasmask that left his mouth exposed. His crooked grin was unsettling.

The match fell onto the ground, fire covered the entire room. Using the dust that Weiss gave her, she created an ice shadow of herself. The flames quickly melted it, the water resulting quickly put out the fire. The man introduced himself, "How uncivilized of me, to strike human before introducing myself. I am Sir Brenn Bar. I am not astonished you got past my colleagues Mr. Geier, Mr. Wein, and that _Faunus_ Lieutenant. There are all too uncultured to even put up a lasting conversation."

 **Brenn Bar (Fire-man)**

 **Looks like a mix of Pyro from TF2 (Soot Suit, Air Raider, Whiskered Gentleman) and a Snork from STALKER.**

 **Honig Wein (Mead-man)**

 **The drunk man with his hair going in every direction.**

 **Stumm Geier (Bird-man)**

 **Raven Faunus with wings.**


	25. Chapter 22

**Reviews:**

 **Jane Rolfe Jalandoni: All of your wishes for bloodlust will be satisfied in due time. May the god of machines guide you on your way.**

 **Gabe2000: You share a lot of similarities with a xenos threat designated as Hive Fleet Kronos. But my cogitators must be malfunctioning because if you were then the extermination protocols must be activated. Besides that, you are correct. Your hunger will hopefully be quenched by more chapters, and y'all do deserve more.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

 **Chapter's Pre-readers: JVMMM**

 **Notes: Discord code is 8CkRfd. We recently hit over 100 followers. Thank you guys for sticking to this story for so long. If there is anything you do not like or think I can improve to make the story better, leave a review or join the discord to have a conversation about it. Dear Omnissiah, I sound like a terrible youtuber.**

Chapter Twenty-Two: Derailing

Ozpin sat in his office silently, but now his coffee was already cold. Pugnus had started playing his hand in the metaphorical card game. The headmaster, while still holding all of his cards, did not know what the Magos Dominus wanted. He claims to the public that his goal is to bring this planet into the folds of the Imperium of Man, but it cannot be that simple. He has the power to conquer this planet within a year, yet he decides to assimilate peacefully. There must be something else he wants that this planet. Most likely something that the others do not. Dust only works on this planet, so that is off the table.

Leaving the only options Aura, Semblances, or Grimm. Ozpin knew that he did not know about the relics or maidens, unless he believes in fairy tales. The Adeptus Mechanicus show a want to exterminate the Grimm, so that leaves Aura. But during Dominus Ferrum spar with Yang, she showed technology that could create something similar to Aura. If he knew what they wanted then he could counter or perhaps stop them if needed. Then a simple idea popped into his head. Maybe they found something here that he does not know about. During his past lives and even up to now, not all of Remnant has been explored. With the benefit of orbital scans the Adeptus Mechanicus must have found something that is important to them.

A low ringing sound brought the headmaster out of his mind. Quickly pulling out his scroll he found out that the General was calling him. "General Ironwood, what is so important that you wanted to call me at dawn break?" questioned Ozpin.

"I have just received reports of five unidentified craft flying over Emerald Forest. Once they reach the location of the Grimm hoard Pugnus warned you about, they dropped missiles into the hoard before waving off. The Magos Dominus is not responding to any of my calls, also my soldiers are reporting that his forces are grouping up in the southeast of Vale. Ozpin, he knows that something is going to happen and is not telling us," warned Ironwood.

The headmaster stated, "Those five aircraft are owned by the Adeptus Mechanicus, there is no question in that. He predicts that the hoard will push towards Vale, but that is unlikely to happen. That will only happen if someone or something corrals them to the city, which is what he may be doing."

"Why would he want to bring a Grimm hoard to Vale?" questioned the General.

"If he does, and this is all speculating, there are two reasons that I can predict. One, he wants to slay the Grimm hoard but cannot go out to meet them. He is bounded by a deal he made with the council, but that does not stop him from protecting Vale from an attacking Grimm hoard. Option two is that he wants to show Remnant how superior his forces are than yours by defeating a hoard of Grimm attacking a major city. But this is all speculation," explained Ozpin.

Dominus Ferrum just witnessed the most unexpected action to ever be viewed by an adept of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Professor used one of his student's pet and his flaming club-which could be shift into a thermos for a decently sized beverage-to destroy a White Fang Paladin. Then he launched another five fireballs, without the dog's assistance, to obliterate the next mech. Ira did not know where to explain that this even happened because of the poor quality of Atlas technology, the untrained abhuman pilots, or the skill of a huntsmen. A large group of fully trained huntsmen might actually be a threat to their forces. Too bad they have nothing to protect against orbital bombardment besides hiding in caves similar to the one they are in right now.

The third walker attempted to engage them, but the tech-priest was not going to let Oobleck have all the fun and glory. -Concentrate all fire unto the servos-motors in the legs!-

The squad of Skitarii formed ranks and let loose the fury of the Omnissiah. Under the constant hail of lighting, one of the paladin's leg joints broke. Ira could not help but to mentally apologize to the machine spirit that she harmed. The mech attempted to approach them, but with only one working leg the abhuman could only yell as he realized his mistake. The stolen machine fell off of the train, but it was not crushed under the wheels. The tech-priest watched silently as the wave of Grimm cascaded onto the helpless mech. The Faunus' screams of pain and mercy echoed through the cavern as the tide of darkness ripped him and the paladin were torn to shreds. Dominus Ferrum sent out a quick sitrep to her fellow tech-priest about everything that has happened and will occur.

Quin Decium was overseeing the construction of the defensive lines of Skitarii near the predicted breach point. Recent reports from his fellow dominus assisted in the calculations, but nothing is guaranteed. He also faced another problem, having to move fifty-eight soldiers of the Omnissiah, twelve Kastelans, and two Onagers without drawing attention. Needless to say it was unlikely to happen. A stray news reporter approached him with a cameraman in tow. "Excuse me sir, can you explain what is happening here?" asked the civilian.

The tech-priest contemplated a moment before commenting, "I thought your council would have told you by now. After all we did inform them about the nearby Grimm hoard six days ago. I would assume that your government would alert the populous of a dangerous threat."

The journalist's eyes widened before she continued the questioning, "Then why are you not going out to defeat the hoard?"

"Headmaster Ozpin told my superiors that a second year huntsmen team would be enough to clear the area of threats without Adeptus Mechanicus support," explained Quin.

"Then why is your entire force here? Do you not trust Ozpin?" she asked with a devious grin on her face. The reported believed that she had cornered the adept.

Dominus Decium calmly explained, "The Adeptus Mechanicus does trust Ozpin and his students enough to let a _second year_ Huntsmen team handle the pack. The only problem is that he sent out a _first year_ team instead. No more questions at this time."

Yang slowly stood up after slamming into the door, the mimic was standing around ten feet in front of her. "So you can copy voices?" The Faunus only tilted his head playfully, as if he did not have anything to worry about.

A smug grin crept across his face as he spoke in her sister's concerned voice, "Yang, you okay in there?" In a swift motion the blonde chambered a shell into Ember Celica, a hail of shotgun pellets bombarded the criminal. The bird-man simply crouched behind his shield to save his aura, Yang grinned as she slowly took step after step towards her opponent. Once she got arm's length away, she stopped firing and launched a reverse punch into his shield to knock him on his back. But he was faster to respond.

With a flap of his wings propelling him up, Stumm shield slammed the blonde in the face. Thankfully her aura prevent her nose from breaking, but Yang's nose was still smashed nonetheless. Tears started to pool in her eyes, blurring her vision. Bird-man exploited his advantage to the fullest, the chain of his mace wrapped around the blonde's right leg with ease. A swift tug sent Yang parallel to the metal floor. Her vision was tainted with splotches of white, aura could do little to stop concussions. With an efficient twirl, the chain released Yang's leg from its iron grip. The Faunus slowly walked to the side of his downed opponent, he saw that her shoulders were moving up slowly as if she had trouble getting off of the ground. So her passionate fire to fight was still burning, but it was dimming. How warming.

A quick stomp to her gut quenched that fire, a struggled wheeze escaped Yang's mouth as she fell back onto the floor. Stumm raised his mace behind his shoulders to finish her off. "Yang, you okay in there?" he spoke softly. Suddenly a masked raven-haired warrior, clad in red and black, comes out of left field and knocks bird-man away from the teen. The unknown assailant glared at the Faunus as he muttered to himself. "Only bird-man cheats!" He used his wings to fly away from the Huntress into the next train car.

Weiss calmly raised Myrtenaster toward her opponent as the dust chamber slowly rotated. The lieutenant charged the Schnee without hesitation, his Faunus brethren were demanding the blood of the snowflake. He will see their demand filled in full. The teeth of his chainsaw were stopped with a glyph shield, the rebound of his strike allowed him to follow up with an overhead strike. The heiress crouched and slanted her rapier downwards to deflect the blow. Her weapon was never designed to block that was what her glyphs are for. Twirling out of the crouch, a jab passed through the Faunus' guard pushing him back. Flowing with the momentum, Weiss jumped over her dazed opponent sending a slash to his head.

With an unbridled roar of rage, the lieutenant's chainsaw swept ripped across the air horizontally. The heiress somersaulted under the blade, as if it was a deadly game of limbo. With his guard exposed, four swift slashes and jabs sent the White Fang member to the ground. The terrorist slowly stood up, now the momentum of the battle was on his side. The lieutenant did not learn from his previous mistakes, his multiple slashes and swings of his chainsaw hit nothing but air as his opponent casually dodged. Weiss lured out his guard with a feint slash, a swift jab exploited the opening send the White Fang member sliding against the steel floor.

The terrorist rolled back unto his feet, he watched patiently as the Heiress summoned a glyph at her feet that resembled a clock. As the Schnee charged him four snowflake glyphs surrounded him, a small smirk formed underneath his mask. The lieutenant dodged her first strike, but as she rebounded off the first glyph he commented, "C'mere, princess." With his spare hand he grabbed Weiss by the face and slammed her into the floor leaving a human sized dent in the process. He tossed his opponent up before hitting her with his chainsaw similar to a baseball player.

"What is up with you and drinking?" innocently questioned Ruby as she blocked all of his lazy and halfhearted attacks.

The half sober drunkard explained, "Because mead."

She tried to continue the conversation, "What is the real rea-"

"Because mead!" Interrupted mead man as he sucker punched the teen in the gut. Ruby quickly disengaged to catch her breath and gain the advantage. Her opponent did not have a ranged weapon. Laying fire down range with her child, a series of curses flowed out of the criminal's mouth as he ran behind the crates for cover. He warned the crimson reaper, "These boxes are filled with dust! If you shoot them, everything goes to shit!"

The team leader was about to believe him, but them she remembered back to her first day at Beacon. An explosion from dust would not hurt her from this distance. It appears that her superior thinking allowed her to defeat the baddies! Loading in a fire cartridge into her weapon slowly, she aimed down her scope and fired one round into the bottom most crate. Instead of an awesome explosion, Ruby was greeted with the sound of glass breaking.

Honig slowly turned to face the box the red girl just shot, turns out there is no dust in that one. What else would they be carrying in a bomb cart besides _explosive_ dust? Slowly he opened the crate to see it filled with whiskey bottles, one of them had taken a bullet for the others. He cradled the broken glass in his hands, his aura stopping him from bleeding. "NNNNNNOOOOOoooo! How could you! I thought huntsmen were not supposed to _murder_ innocents!"

Ruby shuffled sideways and got on her tiptoes to see what he was talking about, she was concerned if someone smuggled their pet onto the train and hide it in the box. Her fears turned into confusion when she saw that the crate was full of alcoholic drinks. The criminal quickly grabbed the bottles and attached them to clips on his belt. In a swift motion he chugged on of them down and broke the container against the crate creating a crude stabbing weapon.

"MEAD!" His war cry was filled with fury as he raised the remains of the bottle over his head. Ruby unloaded an entire clip into his chest in an attempt to stop his charge, but his aura took the damage and he pushed through. Once he reached melee range with the teenager, Honig unleashed a furious storm of stabs and cuts with a sharp piece of glass in his hand. The crimson team leader used that pole of her weapon in a twirling motion to redirect the drunkard's attacks to the floor. Luck was not on mead-man's side as he overextended during one of his strikes, resulting in him losing balance and landing face first onto the floor. Ruby quickly brought the back end of her blade unto his head, leaving him unconscious.

"Yes! Caught my first bad guy!" cheered the innocent teenager. Miss Rose was brought out of her moment of joy when her unconscious partner flew through the door. The White Fang lieutenant followed quietly afterward, the rev of his chainsaw broke the silence in the room. "Aw crap baskets."

"If you are a racist bastard then why do you work with the White Fang?" countered Blake as her hand reached for her weapon.

Sir Bar placed his right hand on his chest in a dignified manner. "I do not bear a grudge upon another for a trait they cannot control. Only a cretin would and could do that. I rightfully judge people based on how civilized they are in conversation. Since this location is populated by charlatans, urchins, and criminals; none of them are well versed in conversation at the same level as me. While any individual would be scorned by being christened a bastard, you are not amiss in your proclamation," spoke the pyromaniac as if he was giving a speech. His hand reached for his back as he equipped his weapon. It was certainly not built in a factory, probably by himself or an inexperienced blacksmith. It was a long metal pole connected by a hose to what appears to be a propane tank. The tank itself was fastened by two black zip ties. Near the nozzle of the weapon was a small flame that was always lit. The handle of the flamethrower was salvaged from a gas pump handle.

The Faunus attempted to taunt him, "For someone claiming to be above everyone else, you weapon does not help your ego. It appears you got it from a scrap yard." Unfortunately it did not work as intended, Brenn slowly shook his head in disappointment.

He commented, "It now occurs to me that you are not cultured enough to see this elegant delicacy in my possession ideal for a conversation. Grant me the pleasure to… _enlighten_ you." The darkness in the room was cleared when Sir Bar squeezed the trigger of his gift giver. Thanks to her quick reaction and her semblance, a shadow clone of Blake soaked up the torrent of flames. She quickly switched Gambol Shroud from its katana form to a pistol form to unload a mag into the approaching pyromaniac. His purple aura came to life as the bullets impacted his chest, a soft and raspy chuckle escaped his lips.

Sir Bar swept the nozzle of his weapon across the room as more flames coated the area in front of him, the hidden Faunus feinted jumping over the flames to draw his flamethrower upwards. He fell for the bait, Blake quickly hit the ground and slid under the wave of fire. Her aura protected against any burns but a lucky lick of fire caught the bow that sat atop her head. Out of pure reaction for her safely, the ex-terrorist removed the cloth from her ears and dropped it on the ground. Brenn silently stared at his opponent as the singed fabric slowly converted into ashes. "Tis a wonder why you attempted to conceal yourself behind such an elementary bow. Was it out of shame, rage, or another mental state that drives the human resolve? Oh, I do apologize. That drives the human and _Faunus_ resolve. But that alludes to another inquiry, are Faunus and humans propelled by the same emotions in an alike manner? For their dissimilarities in biology is effortless to ascertain, but do we comprehend topics in a similar method? Unfortunately a humble mind such as I cannot resolve those queries, because they would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy."

Stumm fled into the next cart where he was met with the White Fang Lieutenant walking into the room mead-man was in. His partner needed help, and he was not going to let him down. Using his wings he flew into the room behind the terrorist, he saw a crimson teenager kneeling next to another female teen and behind them was mead-man on the floor. "You okay in there?" he asked in a voice he heard today.

Ruby's eyes went wide when she heard the bird Faunus speak in her voice. "Did you just speak in my voice?" The person in question just tilted his head slightly in confusion as he slowly walked to the left side of the room. Lieutenant went to the right side of the room in response. In a burst of rose petals, the team leader and her partner left the room through the door the pair entered. The White Fang member growled under his breath as he chased after them, leaving bird-man alone in the room with mead-man. Stumm rushed to his comrade, shaking him to wake him up.

"Didn't I tell you to never wake me up when I am drunk you stupid bird?" questioned Honig turned to lay on his back.

Bird-man informed him, "Yes yes. We leave now." He extended his hand forward towards the drunkard, who grasped it without hesitation. In a swift pull both of them were standing.

He supplied himself with another whiskey bottle from his belt. "Good idea, I already got all mead that here. I heard of a great bar in Vale, not that far away and the police there are shit."

Weiss awoke to see two of her team members, Yang and Ruby. "What happened?"

Ruby hugged her partner tightly. "Thank Oum you are okay!" Once Weiss was able to escape, the team leader explained, "Once I defeated the criminal I was against, the chainsaw guy threw you into the room I was in! Then the Faunus Yang was fighting followed him in! He spoke in my voice I think…but before they could harm you I escaped into the room where we all entered the inside of the train! That is when I found Yang laying on the ground."

"Then where are the criminals?" questioned the heiress. None of the girls had to answer that question, the screeching of metal against metal from the barricaded door was enough. The Schnee reasoned, "Behind that door is at least one criminal and at most four. Since our scroll have no reception, we can only assume that Blake's status is." She turned to her partner before asking, "What's the plan Ruby?"

Dominus Ferrum watched patiently as Doctor Oobleck moved to the rear of the train to engage the last two paladins. Thanks to this encounter with them, she was able to start identifying ways to eliminate these types of mech with limited casualties. Of course due to that Talpa Code they already had the blueprints, but they can only provide so much. Ira turned to check the front of the train for enemies. Instead she saw something worse, a closed steel blast door at the end of the tracks. "Frak"

Sir Bar waited to see what his conversation partner would do before completed his side of the dance, but she just stood still and glared at him. Was it because he accidentally offended her heritage which made her cut the conversation short in retaliation? Improbable because her conversation piece was still out and an uncultured person would not know how to properly end a conversation. His train of thought was halted when a ringing noise came out of his pocket. "My deepest regret, but I must make this conversation brief. Even though you are uncultured, it would be ignorant of me not to give you my entire title before leaving. I am Sir Brenn Bar the Atlesian Archbishop of Arson, and until we meet again. Adieu." Using his axe, he smashed the nearest window and leap out of the train before it crashed. Blake turned to the control panels, but something else caught her eyes first. A dead end in the tracks. She started running into the cart behind to escape the crash, but it was inevitable.

While Ruby was trying to figure out what to do, everything turned into a torrent of red. Her vision went black as she activated her aura to protect herself. After an unknown period of time, the crimson reaper was finally able to see again, with ringing ears and whiteness covering the edge of her vision. They were still underground in a wreck of some kind, did the train crash? As she tried to sit up, pain shot through her body. Weiss and Yang were starting to wake up in a similar state, but in the middle of the destroyed car was the White Fang Lieutenant, with a jagged strip of metal protruding through his chest. Blake was still nowhere to be seen, but the odds of her being alive were not on the bright side. The silence of the wreck was broken with a long and droning siren. The first Grimm attack on Vale in a long time was starting.

Dominus Decium watched silently as ground in a small section of the plaza ruptured from an explosion. He decided now was the time to start a morale speech, "You are all soldiers of the Omnissiah! No matter what comes through that breach you will stand your ground!" As if on cue, a giant midnight black snake burst out of the rubble with countless lesser Grimm following.

 **Afterword: I might do a summer special next chapter if y'all want one. Pm me or leave a review if you want anything added in.**


	26. Summer Special

**Reviews:**

 **Jane Rolfe Jalandoni: The Legiones Skitarii will hold their ground to the last man. Go forth with the benediction of the Omnissiah.**

 **Guest: You are half correct in that statement. What you guess was the first phase of the plan. There will always be stubborn people that will not assimilate peacefully into the arms of the Omnissiah, that is what phases two and three are for.**

 **Giang385: 1. In the notes of chapter 9 I addressed this matter. 2. I know I am not using the correct names for Skitarii, and I will address it the same way as previous problem. Also I will fix both of the problems stated in my next story, if I even write another one. If you want another good Ad Mech story to read, hit up Techpriest of Remnant by Megatronus95. It is a shame he stopped.**

 **Forge Master 00: Another great omake. Sage would not be like by Pugnus at all, and her connection to you might put your faith unreliable. Also your use of xenos tech to keep a heretic in line sounds like an act from Stygies VIII. Thankfully the Magos Dominus does not know about this unwelcome guest yet. Also thanks for telling me that the discord code did not work.**

 **Speech Syntaxes (THIS HAS CHANGED):**

 **Speech Lingua-Technis**

" **Speech" Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-readers: JVMMM**

 **Notes: Since the discord code is no longer working, just pm me to receive the link to join manually. By the Omnissiah it has been too long, sadly marching band camp starts within a week of the hiatus ending so I might not post for a bit. Also just found out the Tech-Priest Inquisitor Cyberdong from the last special is TTS. Also changed the speech syntaxes.**

Summer Special

Baron Siezant was not pleased with his predicament. If anything he was furious. They got pulled out of reinforcing to punish a heretical cell on a mining world-that supplied his home world Kolossi-to this Emperor damned piece of dirt. For nigh three weeks he had been constrained to the _Astral Knight_ , while the Skitarii have been on the surface fighting a new species of xenos. While most soldiers in the Imperium would fist fight a necron warrior for a chance to leave the frontlines, the noble saw no way to become part of the Companions sitting around ideally. That is when an idea entered his mind.

He turned to his most trusted Sacristan, if they even can be trusted. "Frygan Iera of the Iron Brotherhood, what is the status of the five Knights on this cruiser?"

The white robed person in question turned away from his workbench to face the noble, his non-organic orange eyes pierced through the Baron. "The _Relentless Crusader_ , _Gallant Protector_ , and _Pride of Koraki_ are appeased and awaiting to be sent to the frontlines. _Misery Bringer_ 's Avenger Gatling Cannon is jamming every third shot. And a servitor got jammed into the gears of _Righteous Fury_ 's Reaper Chainsword leaving it unusable. Both of their machine spirits demand compensation for our mistreatments before deploying into the field."

"Good enough, send word to Sir Fogash and Sir Morrin. We shall wait no longer."

The servant of the Omnissiah gave the baron a questioning look. "Baron Siezant that would go against Magos Dominus Pugnus' plans. You surely would not want to go against him."

Siezant approached Sacristan Iera till their faces were inches apart, he gave the robed figure a simple question. "Are you attempting to _threaten_ an Imperial Knight Pilot?"

Frygan's reply was cold and monotone. "No, I am just reminding you that all the blame and the punishment will be on your name. Both nobles will arrive here shortly."

Warboss Battlecookah awoken in an off putting white wasteland, the only thing comfortable was his kustom shoota and big choppa in both of his meaty hands. His boyz were nowhere to be seen, except for one da Mekboy. His fellow Ork got off of the ground and started to scan the horizon. "Boss! Ova 'der iz a city dat iz lack'n 'n Ork kulture!" The boy's statement was true, not that far away was a city that was colored white. It was lacking any of dat good Ork colors, and that can only mean one thing to the impudent mind of an Ork.

"Well den we have gits ta krump!"

The Sacristan was silent as he connected the three nobles to their respective thrones. Once his task had been completed he stepped back to soak in the glory of the Knights before him. The leftmost one was the _Pride of Koraki_ , a Knight Warden armed with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, Reaper Chainsword, Meltagun, Heavy Flamer, and a Stormspear Rocket Pod. The rightmost was the _Gallant Protector_ , a Knight Gallant fitted similar to the _Pride of Koraki_ with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet instead of the Avenger Gatling Cannon, and an Ironstrider Missile Pod instead of a Stormspear Rocket Pod. And the final machine of perfection was the _Relentless Crusader_ , a Knight Crusader equipped almost alike to the Knight Warden. The only difference was a Thermal Cannon instead of the Reaper Chainsword.

Baron Siezant spoke via the vox to his comrades, "Nobles of House Raven, we have been brought to this world to show it the might of the Imperium of Man. What better way than to allow the primitives to be humbled in the shadow of our Knights! Magos Dominus Pugnus had informed me that they attempted to replicate a Knight themselves, their tech heresies were overlooked. But we are not the tech-priest. We shall put the feudals in their place! Below us! Honor Inviolate! Kolossi Eternal!"

"Honor Inviolate!" bellowed Fogash.

Morrin finished the motto, "Kolossi Eternal!"

Pugnus watched the security footage of the hanger silently. It appears that the nobles of House Raven were tired of waiting, he will make sure to give them a taste of combat that this world provides. He called the Sacristan with his personal vox, This is Magos Dominus Pugnus speaking. You will be following the Knights, your job is to make sure all of them return alive. Your head will be payment to their families if one should fall against such weak foes. A transport is already prepared and the coordinates have been set. The Omnissiah protects.

Warboss Battlecookah reached the town lacking in the proper culture, but something surprised him. It was a ghost town, completely barren but of the signs of a fierce fight. He and da Mekboy searched through the ruins for anything they can loot or fight, but they wound up with nothing as the sun reached midday. But then da Mekboy spoke up, "Eh boss, I found a lot uv weird metal kans. I know wot we kan build wit' dis."

Specialist Winter watched the video of an unknown transport landing in the frozen wasteland of Atlas. Three red mechs-evaluated at being as tall as one and a half paladins-exited the craft and started marching in a random direction. They were painted in a myriad of colors: red, silver, black, and yellow. Unknown symbols covered the robots entirely, and they shared no resemblance to the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. She ordered a force of twelve paladins to be deployed alongside her to investigate this new threat.

Sacristan Iera was not having a good time as the three Knight marched across the snow covered ground. Thanks to his mechadendrites he was able to latch onto one of the _Relentless Crusader_ 's titanic feet. The trio of nobles were silent as they scanned the horizons for any enemies. Baron Siezant warned over the vox channel. "Group of twelve times mechs and one times VTOL craft at bearing 70. Unknown if hostile, but they are approaching our position."

Frygan used his augmented eyes to zoom in on the pack of mechs, each were labeled with a snowflake. "Those are the Atlesians that the Magos Dominus warned you about. This appears to be their attempts to copy the grace of the machines you pilot currently. Pitiful."

Winter Schnee watched from the airship as the three crimson walkers started to spread their formation into a wedge. The mech with no major ranged weapons took point while the other two flanked to its left and right a considerable distance away, their rockets could not hit multiple now. She quickly ordered her paladins to mirror their formation. That was when a voice vibrated from the mechs. **"I am Baron Siezant of House Raven. The scraps of metal that are visible by my eyes, offend the God-Emperor of Mankind. Surrender or suffer the fate of all heretics."**

Using the speakers on the bullhead she replied. "Atlas does not answer to this _false_ emperor. You are currently in Atlesian land and will answer by our laws! Surrender over you walkers and your jail sentence will be halved."

" **Cowabunga it is!"**

Baron Siezant was not one to stay idle, and he could tell that the enemy doubted the might of his Knight. His thermal cannon was quick to rectify that, by melting through two of the Paladins in one salvo. The avenger gatling cannon roared to life along with the storm spear rocket pod mounted on the impenetrable carapace, both sent the other two mechs facing against him to around half strength. Or so the throne informed him, but he had more important matters to focus on. Mainly the ten missiles fired from the wounded Paladins. Out of the ones that actually got to him, they all detonated on his ion shield. Siezant could not stop a chuckle escaping his lips as he launched a final salvo from his thermal cannon and stormspear rocket pod, leaving the last two Atlesian mech as wrecks.

Sir Fogash was enraged by the pompous nature of the blasphemers, the God Emperor of Mankind demands there death! He charged at a group of four pitiful walkers, his vision clouded in the rage only a zealot could produce. And the only cure is blood. The ironstrider missile pods launched their payload into the ground in front of the Atlesians, creating a cloud of water vapor. The feudal pilots could not accurately target the mech without their lasers, leaving them exposed. Fogash came out of the cloud with his weapons ready. His thunderstrike gauntlet bitchslapped the closest mech into the snow, the reaper of the reaper chainsword sowed fear into the enemy as it plunged through the next Paladin. The Knight pilot raised the Atlesian mech so that their cockpits were at the same level. Inside he saw the quivering from of a human, no it was a heretic and deserved nothing from him. His meltagun turned the Paladin cockpit into an oven, the wails of the blasphemers was music to his ears.

The only Paladin left on its feet stared at the Knight Gallant in terror. Fogash capitalized on this as he slowly approached the mech, on his path his Knight's titanic feet crushed the cockpit of the Atlesian robot he bitchslapped to the ground. What he did not expect was for the heretic to launch missiles in his panic, with no time to tilt the ion shields the hull of the knight took the brunt of the attack. Nothing was damaged besides the meltagun. The ground quaked as he sounded his war horn in his final charge. The Atlesian foolishly attempted to flee, only to have the feet of his mech to be ripped off by the giant chainsword. The Paladin fell forward, its pilot could only see snow as he heard the rev of the chainsword getting closer by the second. His screams were trampled by the tearing of metal against metal. Sir Fogash slowly dragged his reaper chainsword from the crotch of the heretical mech slowly up to the cockpit. The traitor pilot would be only mincemeat in seconds.

Knight Morrin was the middle ground between the Baron and the Zealot Knights that stood beside him. He slowly approached his group of four Paladins, his avenger gatling cannon and the stormspear rocket pod pounded their location as he marched forward. They answered with an array of primitive missiles. With only a lucky one piercing through his ion shield causing his paint to be scuffed. His march towards them did not stop, another salvo of stormspear rockets and rounds from his avenger gatling cannon pelted the Paladins one final time before he charged them. Their overwatch made a second scuff, but he repaid the favor by slicing the first Paladin in half with his reaper chainsword. The three remaining Paladins attempted to flee, the Baron's thermal cannon rendered one of them to scrap metal. With the combined firepower of two Knights, the feudal mech stood no chance.

The three Knights stood over the remains of their enemies as they debated over vox what to do next. Sacristan Frygan Iera could not assist them because he was too busy trying to rip apart the remains of the Paladins in an act to cleanse the heresy against the Omnissiah from the machine spirits. Fogash screeched, "We must continue to their capital to cleanse this world! They do not serve the God Emperor and therefore must die!"

"While I agree that this Atlas should not live to see another day, we lack the resources necessary to conduct an assault of a capital. If we had Sir Markley, Sir Enck, and infantry support then maybe we could," reasoned Morrin.

"We would only fail because you doubt our power! The Emperor's will makes anything possible. We would fail because you lack in faith Sir Morrin," accused Fogash.

The noble had to defend himself, "I do not lack faith Sir Fogash. The difference between you and I is that my faith does not cloud my reasoning! If we attempt to burn their capital to the ground we _will_ fail, and then they will salvage technology from our corpses! Their capital will burn, but not today."

Before their debate could continue, Baron Siezant spotting something moving towards them on the horizon. It was a war machine. But something was not right, it did not bear the symbols of any faction that should be here. It was an amalgamation of kettles that were spray painted green. "There is a hostile mech bearing 308. It is greenskin in nature."

"Clever of the damned Orks. They found something to build with in this wasteland," commented Sir Fogash as he revved his reaper chainsword. The Kettle Gargant slowly lumbered forth, the rockets and missiles of the Knights slammed into its hull to only cause small dents.

Inside the metal amalgamation, Warboss Battlecookah ordered, "Fire da supa uba dupa deff _tea_ gun!" Due to the gun being Ork in nature it worked perfectly and barely at the same time. Some of the tea coated ammunition detonated inside the barrel, whilst the majority of the tea rounds smashed into Knight Morrin. Ruining more than just the paint job.

The brash Fogash started to charge the Ork construct, against Baron's wishes and to the joy of the Orks. To save their comrade, Morrin and Siezant unleashed all of their weapons to suppress the Gargant. Much to their disappointment they only caused more dents. The death tea gun fired once more, but this time into the charging Knight. The zealot's walker was sent into half strength, but his charge was not stunted. His chainsword slammed into the shaft of the Kettle Gargant's kustom teaspoon choppa hybrid. The rotation of the teeth forced the axe to the ground, exposing the torso of the metal monstrosity. Fogash was only able to get one swing before he had to block a devastating cleave from the teaspoon choppa, this is where he messed up. The Knight pilot only thought the Orks were only brutal, but when in fact they are brutally cunning. Or was it cunningly brutal? Who cares? The fate of all xenos is that same. Which also applies to anyone who doubts the enemies of man, for it takes a dumb or strong force to oppose the Emperor and live. The supa uba dupa deff gun fired point blank into the stomach of the Knight.

Baron Siezant watched from afar as the Knight Gallant slowly fell into the snow. In honor of their fallen comrade, they unleashed hell unto the Ork menace. An unrelenting hail of rockets, mass-reactive shells, and a superheated thermal beam. They continued till the smoke prevented them from seeing their target, but eventually they had to stop. To their anger, the Kettle Gargant slowly exited from the smoke, over the remains of the Knight Gallant, as if it was defying them. It was calling them weak, it claimed to be superior to man. That is an offence that not even a painful slow death can repay. That is when Knight Morrin noticed something, the Gargant was visibly weaker than before. The giant axe as bent in an uncommon position and the death tea gun was slightly damaged. **"Was 'dat suppose ta hurt?"**

Knight Morrin charged the blaspheming Ork with only one goal in mind. **"No but this is Xeno."** His reaper chainsword sliced twice across the damage hull of the Gargant. The mech brought up the death tea gun again, the Knight Warden's avenger gatling cannon swatted it away. **"That trick will not work on me Ork."** Morrin brought the chainsword down to amputate the gun off of the mech. **"Honor Inviolate!"** After the swing stroke came another against the shaft of the giant teaspoon choppa, then another, then another. And on the fourth stroke against the axe, it broke. **"Kolossi Eternal!"** With the last remnants of his fury, his reaper chainsword carved the Kettle Gargant in half horizontally. Yet his job was not finished, for the xenos inside the metal still lived. But a long burst from his avenger gatling cannon remedied that. Standing over the enemy of man victorious, Knight Morrin let his war horn sound across the frozen wasteland.

 **Ideas: Thanks to JVMMM for the idea about knights, kettles, and brutality.**

 **DISCLAIMER: This chapter is NOT canon to the story, but the imperial characters introduced here are cannon.**


	27. Chapter 23

**Reviews:**

 **Jane Rolfe Jalandoni: You faith in the Omnissiah has been duly noted. You will receive your reward in the afterlife, may the xenos blood stained on your hands drown the enemies of man.**

 **Guest: Is your vox malfunctioning? I know an Enginseer who will be glad to heal its machine spirit.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

-Speech- **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-readers: JVMMM and Forge Master 00**

 **Notes: Since the notes for this chapter is long I am going to split it up into multiple sections.**

 **Discord: I got the discord link working again if any of you want to join: hu5HdXn. We in the discord are planning to host a WH themed RPG game over the internet. If you want to join, hop on the discord.**

 **Errors in last Chapter: The formatting for the last chapter's speech syntaxes messed up. Lingua-Technis was meant to be in greater than and less than symbols. I am going to revert it back to the original way until I can find a way that works. Test =Test= +Test+ Also last chapter when I said** _ **'hit up Techpriest of Remnant by Megatronus95. It is a shame he stopped.'**_ **I was proved wrong 25 days later when he updated his story again. All praise, for another servant of the Omnissiah that is still writing!**

 **What is Happening: I know many of you have been waiting a long time just to get back on the actual story, ten weeks if my cogitators are correct. This chapter has been pushed back for multiple reasons: the Heretek DLC for Mechanicus was launched (great game), marching band camp, school starting, and spending time with family and friends. Since this is the season finale, it would be insulting for it to only by 3k to 4k words. So I am aiming for at least 6k words.**

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Breach

The Magos Dominus sat in the conference room on the _Astral Knight_ with three of the nobles and one of their assigned sacristans. "So you mean to tell me that the four of you had the same dream and woke up at the same exact time."

Frygan warned Pugnus, -Yes Magos Dominus. This is either a warning from the Omnissiah of an Ork infestation, or a temptation from the arch enemy. -

-If there were Orks on this world then there would be no Grimm or feudals. And a dream about slaying xenos does not sound like a trap set by the entities of the warp. Do not waste my precious time with your pointless dreams! I have more important matters to attend to! - berated Pugnus.

Dominus Decium stood behind the lines of Skitarii, his volkite blaster sending the lesser Grimm to oblivion. His cogitators overclocked as he gave out orders to every single unit. The Kastelans and Kataphron Destroyers never ceased their elimination volley. The neutron laser on one of the Onagers burned the scales of the King Taijitu, while the icarus array shot all hostiles out of the sky. Then main threat that he focused on was the hoard of lesser Grimm slowly approaching the lines of Skitarii. Their strength is not the problem, it is that they might leave his meat shields weak enough for the giant snake to break through the lines effortlessly. The King Taijitu coiled around itself, with its menacing red eyes peered through the folds. It was waiting for something, and he knew it. The only question is what. -Skitarii Squads Beta, Delta, and Foxtrot, fall back and tighten the wall around the Onagers. Kataphrons, go onto the left flank and protect the Kastelans. Dragoon, stay in reserves. Ironstriders, crush that serpent! - Quin's cogitators informed him the distance he had from the enemy. Nine meters. 60.1036 seconds later, five meters. They are about to reach into melee range, high casualties predicted if nothing changes.

The citizens of Remnant watched in fear as the hoard of Grimm became a few feet away from the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. That was when their walkers strode around the right flank, while the Grimm had all of their attention on the Skitarii. That was when the Dragoons started to play prayers of vengeance over their speakers to sound the charge. **"There can be no mercy! There can be no forgiveness! None can survive! Our victory is certain! They must be destroyed! We are His judgement! His remorseless fist!"** Their taser lances pierced the chests of the abominations, while smaller and unfortunate Grimm hand their skull crushed by the hoofs of the chicken walkers. Now fighting on two fronts, the hoard started to split their attention. Everything is going according to Decium's plan. That was when the snake uncoiled into the lines of Skitarii.

Dominus Decium cursed under his breath, as he remembered that the changer of ways lives to screw all. As the demon serpent raised its head to lunge at the Skitarii again, the neutron laser pierced through the bottom of its jaw and into the skull. With a heavy thud, the beast was laid on the floor dead. But this was not the end of the fight, as more Grimm poured out of the breach just to bash into the Adeptus Mechanicus lines. Cracks were starting to form in the defensive position. Skitarii stood upon their comrade's corpses with little regard for them. Precision was repairing the Kataphrons while Cyber commanded the Kastelans. His gamma pistol barked into the maw of Beowolves. Eights made sure that the Skitarii did not flee by any _humane_ ways at his disposal, why do they limit themselves to gain the favor of the primitives is something Quin cannot fully understand. Contemplating this now is a waste of my cogitators.

The Tech-Priest turned his attention back to the battlefield, logic says that if nothing changes he would have to abandon this position sometime. But reports from Ira state that this attack was not fully prepared, instead it was rushed due to it being discovered. The hoard of Grimm, while numerous is not infinite. Eventually the enemy's manpower here will run out, his predictions state that the forces of man will win this day. The only question remaining is the amount of casualties. That was when he spotted a few Grimm leaving the area of the battle down the multiple side streets in the corner of his vision. He did not expect the xenos to be wise enough to pull a flanking maneuver. More orders had to be given out. -All Skitarii and Kataphron squads start the push forward to the breach, I want our two defensive lines to connect. Dragoons and Ironstriders, eliminate all of the Grimm leaving this area. Kastelans, suppress the breach itself. Onagers, pick off the largest targets. -

Eights countered, -Dominus Decium, we have suffered 27.5% casualties throughout the squads of Skitarii. We could hold against this size of hoard at full strength while having to give up ground to prevent casualties. What makes you believe that at three quarters strength we can push them back? -

-Our objective is to prevent the Grimm from harming civilians, and they cannot if their entrance has been secured. Since the King Taijitu has been slain, our only major threat are the Ursa. Also the serpent was the one that caused most of the damage to our Skitarii, - reasoned Quin. The Enginseer accepted his superior's logic and sent out the order via the noosphere.

Without a word, the lines of metal slowly started to push forward into the black sea. Their metallic fingers never let the trigger of their weapons go, while the Alpha's arc mauls and power sword cut into the closer Grimm with ease. The Kastelans' heavy phosphor blasters poured out hate into the breach, slowly the broken concrete and remains of the train around it started to melt. The opening began to be filled shut. The chicken walkers disengaged from the main fight to run through the streets of Vale, any marauding Grimm found were slain with ease.

Ruby Rose dipped back into consciousness again, her first mission was not going as planned. Once she first woke up and tried to reach for Crescent Rose, but the amount of pain her body endured made her pass out. She bit down on her hood to not focus on her pain, which was when she felt something weird in her mouth. On instinct she spat out whatever was in her mouth. The crimson student stared at three bloody teeth that laid in a small puddle of dirt and spit in fear. The team leader quickly checked her scroll to find that she and her team were on critical amounts of aura. With her friend's aura slowly dropping. Ruby turned to see her sister cradling her left arm, and her partner covering her nose with her two hands as blood slipped through her grip.

Doctor Oobleck awoke in complete darkness, from the looks of it he was still in the train tunnel. He turned on his scroll to act as a flashlight. The dim light moved across his surroundings. He was surrounded by the remains of the train cars, to his left was a Skitarii Ranger that was not in perfect condition. The signature electric blue eyes were colorless and stray a steel beam jutted out of his chest. The professor spared a moment to mourn for the soldier, his scroll tilted down so that he could inspect himself. Nothing appears broken, or missing. Then he realized there was a small sheet of iron stuck in his left leg. "That's not favorable." His aura appeared to have stopped the bleeding, thank Oum he packed the supplied needed to fix this. As if directed by fate, crimson eyes encroached upon him from the darkness. "That's not favorable at all."

Under the light of the rising sun, the situation was starting to turn out favorably. The icarus array stayed silent as the feudal craft landed behind the Skitarii lines to deploy their reinforcements. Dominus Decium found the feudal relief force to be… _smaller_ than he expected. Three huntsmen teams, two professors, and thirty-two Atlesian robots. All that Vale had as a quick relief force was twelve children and two teachers. While the QRF from Atlas was better than their ally's, it was missing a command element. Similar to the Skitarii, they can hold a position by themselves but no orders then efficiency is wasted.

The Atlesian Knights moved into support the lines of Skitarii with any hesitation, but the same could not be said for the huntsmen in training. The team designated as CFVY spared a moment before heading to the right flank of the formation. The transfer team of three from Mistral chased through the side streets, Quin knew that they were the enemy but Pugnus wants to know who they work for before _removing_ them. The two professors and the team designated as JNPR approached him. Jaune was the first one to speak. "Where is team RWBY?"

Professor Goodwitch watched the gaze of the Tech-Priest turn from her student to the battle. He face, or what was left of it, gave no hint of their fate. He raised one of his mechadendrites and pointed it to the giant hole in the ground that was being suppressed by the Kastelan's fire. "That is the most probable location of them. Their fate is unknown." Her grip tightened around her riding crop.

"Why are you suppressing their position? A better question is were they not under the watch of Dominus Ferrum?!"

Quin explained, "Answer to the first question: the Grimm are attacking us from their position. Answer to the second question: her fate is unknown, similar to RWBY. Resolving this issue is now our secondary objective."

"Then what is our first?" questioned Ren.

The Dominus was responded quickly, "Protect the civilians at _all_ costs." A series of binary speak escaped the mouth of the Tech-Priest. The half metal soldiers started to push further into the Grimm hoard, some of whom forgo reloading their weapons in favor of using the butts of the rifle to bash in the skulls of the enemy. The flamethrowers mounted on the Kataphron Destroyers came to life, forcing the pavement and the remains of their enemies to become one.

Eights watched team CFVY engage the Grimm, to say the least he was surprised at their choice of weapons. One had a two handed great sword, one pair of bladed tonfa, and one of them was unarmed. Their leader had yet to engage, but she was holding a purse. Out of all the planets he had visited, this one is the most illogical. A squad with only melee weapons, or none at all, fighting against an enemy that only has melee weapons. Sure they had the Sicarian Ruststalkers go against this statement, but they are being sent against the White Fang who mostly use ranged weapons. His mechanical eyes spotted the team leader walking up to an Ursa while her lips were moving, the Enginseer could not make out what she was saying due to the rhythmic song formed by the galvanic rifles with the staccato beats from the radium carbines. He could not believe that his vision was properly calibrated when her purse mecha shifted into a rotary cannon. Sure he had seen these feudals turning scythes into sniper rifles, or spears into either a sword or rifle before. But he did not know that mecha shifting can be made to this scale. The Magos Dominus must hear about this later, any assassins could potentially hide a weapon in the smallest and most unexpected objects.

Doctor Oobleck's hand reached for his weapon and quickly shifted it into the flamethrower form. A torrent of flame bathed his surroundings, which allowed him to see the numbers of the Grimm around him. It was not much, a small pack of Beowolves that a fully trained Huntsmen could dispatch. The professor's only problem was that his wounded leg prevented him from using his high speed to evade the enemy's claws. With them slowly approaching and his weapon could only kill so many, he prepared himself to find out what comes after death. Oobleck's concentration was broken with a force similar to lightning slamming into his encroaching doom. Behind him he could see five pairs of electric blue eyes. A familiar mechanical monotone voice called out to him, "Doctor Oobleck, you will not join back with the Motive Force today while your duty is unfinished."

Ira launched a hail of fire into the nine Beowolves that were left, her eradication ray forced four of the xenos to disappear. A clip from her macrostubber found their mark in five different skulls. With the enemies dealt with she approached the professor, her auspex informed her that he will live and his combat effectiveness has lowered greatly. "Thank Oum you all arrived to save me from the clutches of the Grimm. Dominus Ferrum, how is your squad of Skitarii faring?"

The tech-priest remembered back to the one Skitarii that attempted to flee, which her macrostubber remedied, and the five other Skitarii that were killed in action. "It is still able to eradicate the xenos. Come along professor, we must search the wreckage for what remains team RWBY."

"What remains?"

Ira explained, "They were at the front of the train inside the cars when the explosion occurred. The students would have been assaulted by shrapnel, and the blunt force of slamming into the walls due to the sudden stoppage. I do not know how much of that aura can protect, but do not hope for their survival. For it is the first step on the road to disappointment."

Back on the surface, the forces of humanity were getting close to their goal. The dunestriders returned from the intersecting streets of Vale with reports of all flanking Grimm slain. By this time the only part left of the hoard was Beowolves and the rare scattered creep. The lines of Skitarii and Atlesian Knights renewed their efforts, with the help of the Dragoons, to push the xenos back underground. No quarter was given. No remorse was shown. For how can you against an enemy that only hates.

Doctor Oobleck's left arm reached around the Domiuns' neck to help him stand upright. The remains of the Skitarii squad formed a protective wall in front of them as they passed through the remains of the train. While soldiers searched through the wreckage as the moved along, they could not waste time to leave no stone unturned. The professor watched as Ira's mechadendrites slowly repair herself, but her attentions were focused with the sway of her eradication ray in case any more Grimm dared to approach them. "Dominus Ferrum, are you hurt? I can support myself with a makeshift brace if you to focus your strength on your repairs."

"No, that would waste our precious time. The longer we delay, the closer the team of students-under our supervision-come closer to no longer being a four man squad," countered Ira. A muffled yelp came from the pile of scrap metal to their left. The four Skitarii without hesitation moved to the heap and started to search through it. After a wasted four minutes, they recovered the canine familiar of Ruby designated as Zwei. The dog was oddly unharmed by the entire situation, which would have to be researched at a later time. Before anything could be said, the dog leaped out of the Skitarii's metal arms and started to run to the exit.

Oobleck jested, "Turns out that Ruby was a genius for being her pet after all. His perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound makes him an excellent companion for a search and rescue mission such as ours. He will lead us to Ruby."

The Skitarii turned to face their Dominus for guidance, only for them to be berated. "Did you not hear the orders given to you by Doctor Oobleck? Follow that dog!"

A peculiar idea formed in Dominus Decium's cogitators as he watched the battle starting to come to a close: Can you commit war crimes against the Grimm? The Adeptus Mechanicus defines nothing as a war crime, but these feudals do. His programs of thoughts were interrupted when he saw the last remaining Beowolves running to the tunnels. While their numbers were miniscule, fifteen in total, none would be allowed to escape. -Charge them! Do not let them leave with their lives! - He ordered his Skitarii. But they were terribly slower than the enemy, so some stopped their advance to let one final volley lose.

"Yang, are you okay over there?" asked Ruby.

A grimace took her face as she spoke, "I think I broke my arm." Ruby's eyes grew wide, because she never saw her older sister in a weak position. On the rare occasion she lose a fight, she would tell jokes and puns to brush it off.

"What about you Weiss?"

A muffled reply came, but the team leader was able to understand her partner. "I think I broke my nose"

Ruby then asked the question that was on all of their minds, "Have any of you guys seen Blake?" Before anyone of them could comment, they heard the whimpering of a canine creature. "Zwei!" Ruby called out to the darkness. But she received no response from the hateful crimson eyes that pierced through the shadows.

Doctor Oobleck began to hear the distant sound of gunfire ahead of them. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he started he staggered run towards combat. The Skitarii doubled their pace to keep up with the professor. Upon reaching the encounter, Oobleck did not hesitate to leap into the fray. His club imploded the closest beowolf skull, but before the Grimm could counter attack the Skitarii made their presence known. Their desolated ranks fired into the xenos, removing a few but in total just annoying the hoard. The professor shifted his weapon into the flamethrower and ignited the Grimm as they charged the Skitarii. One final volley was unleased before the claws descended on the last of Squad Charlie.

Weiss watched as three of the Skitarii were torn to shreds by the Grimm. Doctor Oobleck let his flamethrower burn only a few of the creatures of fear as to not cause friendly fire. Then she remembered back to her question to Dominus Ferrum. _'These exact Skitarii are relatively fresh converts'._ A staccato sound of gunfire came from behind the final Adeptus Mechanicus soldier, the bullets themselves killed the last three Beowolves. The tech-priest walked out of the shadows to only stare down at the remains of her squad.

Ira stared at the remains of her squad as she finished her report of the entire battle. She allowed herself two spare seconds to mourn the casualties taken under her command before sending the file to the Magos Dominus. A minute too late, three squads of Skitarii lead by Dominus Decium reached their location. The tech-priest noticed one of their Skitarii carrying the unconscious form of Blake Belladonna. Quin ordered, -Let the Rangers help the wounded out of here. I do not want any primitives dying of rad saturation while under our care. -

Four Skitarii Rangers holstered their galvanic rifles before picking up the rest of team RWBY and Doctor Oobleck in the fireman carry position. The teenager girls did complain about their predicament, but Quin reminded them. "The longer we are down here complaining and sorting out who can walk, the higher chance your comrade can die of her injuries sustained." The Vanguards and the Rangers with arc rifles covered their retreat back to the surface.

As the Skitarii jogged past Professor Goodwitch and Professor Port, their injured college greeted them. "It is swell to see you two here, I will regale to you my story at the infirmary." Once the two tech priests exited the breach, the female professor used her semblance to repair the damage and close off the tunnels.

Dominus Ferrum noticed a drunkard being escorted by Mercury and Emerald unto an Atlesian bullhead. He mumbled as the android grabbed unto him, "I was not supposed to get fucking caught! That fire man was, but he bitched out! Oum damn backstabber. Hey, hey! Watch the mead!" Team RWBY and Doctor Oobleck in the meantime time were loaded into a medical bullhead to be taken to Beacon post-haste.

A gaggle of news reporters approached the two Domini and the professors, but before they could say anything Quin cut them off. "Magos Dominus Pugnus will give the official statement from the Adeptus Mechanicus in one standard hour."

"Why not now?" yelled one of the people in the crowd.

Ira informed them, "This matter is too important to have a simple chat over a scroll. That is why he is going to make planet fall to make his future plans clear."

The news reporters turned on the professors, "What does Beacon have to say about this?"

Goodwitch deflected them, "Headmaster Ozpin will give our statement once the Magos Dominus arrives."

Ozpin was completely silently in his office, with only a fresh cup of coffee to warm his hands. He had to prepare a speech for the public to calm them down after they the Grimm have rampaged into the city. The headmaster was preparing himself for what to say to the public, he did not want to scare them by mobilizing more forces but if they did not feel safe he would get no support. The fact that Pugnus was coming to the surface to give a speech was a peculiar move. But he knew that he was not going to waste resources and time just to give a speech. His train of thought was halted when he got an alert from his scroll. The council was calling him, with not a lot of options he accepted the call. "Ozpin!"

"Yes, Councilman."

The councilman explained his situation, "You've left us no choice! The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens. Without the help from outside forces. Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Together, we have decided that the best action is to appoint either General Ironwood or Magos Dominus Pugnus as head of security for the event. But before we make a final decision, we would like you opinion on this matter."

"While I would prefer to stay at the head of security for the Vytal Festival, I would have to choose General Ironwood to replace me. To have a person from a country not in the Vytal Festival be the head of security would not be great news to our citizens," reasoned the headmaster.

The General started with his speech, "Thank you for your support, Ozpin. Atlas is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that the Vytal Festival runs smoothly and safely as possible."

Another council member interjected, "But the Adeptus Mechanicus would be the best choice for Vale's safety. After all, the Magos Dominus warned us about the hoard of Grimm in close proximity to the city. And he did inform us that the headmaster sent a _first_ year team to deal with it."

The first councilmen spoke, "We cannot trust those _cultist_ at all. They want to remove the idea of an independent Remnant. Right now, Atlas and the other Kingdoms are our only allies. The Adeptus Mechanicus is still useful to us, and therefore they shall remain here. But we are still going to have a serious discussion about Ozpin's position at Beacon Academy. The reports given to us by the General over the last few weeks have lead us to be…concerned. I am sure you understand."

The video feed with the Council of Vale was cut, leaving only Ozpin and Ironwood in the call. "This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise, I will keep Remnant safe from _all_ threats, you have to trust me." And with the end of his statement, the video feed was cut entirely. Ozpin stared into his now cold cup of coffee. A report appear on his scroll. It appears that Pugnus' ship was spotted nearing Vale. But an additional five VTOL craft following.

The Magos Dominus exited his transport, with the third Onager in his detachment slowly following him. He gazed rested upon his forces as they prepared to march into the city, they were planned to meet up with Dominus Decium's contingent at Beacon. But he might accidentally take a detour to pass by General Ironwood's speech about his plans for security for the Vytal Festival. Pugnus could only worry about the tension between the Fulgurites and Copruscarii, but he had warned both of them that any attacks against the other will lead to a fast pass to Servitude Imperpituis.

"Citizens of Vale. Due to recent events, your council have wisely chosen to put myself as head of security for the upcoming Vytal Festival. I will do everything possible, in my power, to maintain the safety of this lovely city and its proud people. Under the protection of the Atlesian military, there will be no repeat of the beach that occurred earlier today. Multiple Atlesian Knight-200 will be deployed to the edges of the city to keep the Grimm at bay, all I need is your cooperation and support." The hologram of Ironwood spoke to the crowd, who were listening intently. But their attention was starting to be drawn away by the distinct sound of marching metal. Ignoring the distracting noise, the General continued his speech. "Atlas plans to have talks with the Adeptus Mechanicus so that we can coordinate our forces to better defend Vale."

As if on cue, the forms of white garbed cyborgs entered the park in which he was giving his speech. The distinct form of the Magos Dominus was leading them. This was not the force that toiled during the breach, this was another wave of reinforcements. Ironwood spotted long sniper rifles, bulky rifles with a dangerous blue glow, and shirtless men with blue tinted skin. Are they part of a subspecies of humans that they tech-priests have talked about, or was their skin color changed by experimentation. Questions for later. "The Adeptus Mechanicus does not plan to defend Vale." Pugnus' statement was taken well by the crowd, the wide eyes and glares were evident of it.

"The breach was evident enough that I cannot trust General Ironwood or Headmaster Ozpin on problems outside of these walls. After all, Ozpin did send a _first year_ team against a Grimm hoard will Ironwood sat on his hands." The Magos Dominus stepped out of with marching formation, and approached the stage where the hologram of Ironwood was projected. His soldiers stood silently and motionless in the street. "But now is not the time to lay the blame on anyone. With this third wave of reinforcements, I have enough firepower on this planet to clear a portion of the _Kingdom_ of Vale from the Grimm menace!"

The hologram of the Atlesian General was replaced by a map of Remnant, an area around Vale was colored white in contrast to the midnight black everywhere else. "If given consent by the Council of Vale, the Adeptus Mechanicus will push the black tide away from these unguarded walls. With support from you and your leaders, soon the Grimm shall be only remembered in history classes." The light slowly pushed the darkness away from Vale and to the shores of Saunus, with the softened sounds of gunfire and primordial growling repeating in the background. The animation was switched back to show Ironwood again, who did not look pleased about the interruption. The Magos Dominus slowly walked off the stage to take his place in the marching block. Without a spoken order, the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus started their perfect march that not even a human could replicate.

After the Breach, team RWBY and Professor Oobleck were split up. Yang, Blake, and the Doctor were taken to the nearest hospital. On the other hand, Weiss and Ruby were confined in Beacon's infirmary. Professor Goodwitch was given a list of their injuries and their predicted hospital stay, and the information did not calm her anger.

 _Name: Miss Ruby Rose_

 _Injuries: Three missing teeth and a grade three concussion_

 _Recovery: Three days_

 _Name: Miss Weiss Schnee_

 _Injuries: Nasal fracture and minor epistaxis_

 _Recovery: One week_

 _Name: Miss Yang Xiao Long_

 _Injuries: One radius fracture of the right arm_

 _Recovery: Two to four weeks_

 _Name: Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck_

 _Injuries: One fibula fracture of the left leg_

 _Recovery: Two to four weeks_

 _Name: Miss Blake Belladonna_

 _Injuries: Three rib fracture and class one hemorrhaging_

 _Recovery: Three to four weeks_

With one Vale's team out of action less than a week away from the Vytal Festival, something needed to be done to fix the tournament brackets. Whether that be moving the entire Vytal Festival back or replacing the spot left by team RWBY. With several taps and presses on her scroll, the hospital information was sent to the Council of Vale for their decision on the problem.

General Ironwood walked away from his scroll, his in depth speech was cut in half by that _dust damned_ Magos Dominus. He was not enraged at the moment, just slightly irked. James did consider today a victory in the big picture. An important member of the White Fang was captured, another White Fang plot foiled, and he has complete control of the security of Vytal Festival. All at the cost of a few Atlesian Knights. The Adeptus Mechanicus did suffered casualties, but that is not his problem. The General walked to the heavily guarded holding cell, his gaze shifted from the door to the pair guards. "Leave us."

Without hesitation, the two soldiers left the presence of the General. Once they were far enough, Ironwood waved his scroll against the side of the cell. The door smoothly opened without a sound, in the dark corner he could spot the figure of a human. "You are Honig Wein, a citizen of Atlas. I've been informed that so far you've refused to cooperate with the local authorities."

The criminal rubbed his hands together. "I would not call myself uncooperative…the correct way to phrase it is that the people here are uncompromising."

"What I am concerned about is how uncooperative you will be with the world's strongest military?" countered the General as he crossed his arms.

A confused glance mixed with a devious smirk replaced Honig's emotionless face. "Eh, didn't that title go to the toaster fuckers?"

James' glare only hardened, he did not fall for the bait. "Do not attempt to derail the conversation. Who is really behind this?"

"It should be obvious if you have a brain," stated Mr. Wein. His left hand reached into his jacket's pocket to pull out a rectangular flask. With a flick of his right hand, the lid screwed off and bounced onto the floor. Slow placing the cold steel to his lips. With a quick twitch of his neck, the contents of the flask emptied down his throat. "Not fucking me." An electronic buzz tore the General's attention away from the interrogation. Ironwood's organic hand fished out his scroll to check the message.

 _'Due to team RWBY begin hospitalized, the Vytal festival has been moved back a week so that they could participate. And the Council have deemed that since the lead criminal in the breach is a citizen of Atlas; all problems regarding custody shall go to you and the Council of Atlas.'_

He allowed his steel composure fade into a minute smirk. "Very well then. The Council of Vale has given me complete custody over you. Make yourself comfortable. I can be sure that you'll have plenty of time to remember who is behind this."

The drunkard laid back onto his temporary steel bed. As his cell's door shut, he presses a concealed button on the back of his whiskey flask. The metal panel of the flask slide off silently, to show a small hidden electronic device. A simple flick of a switch caused its light to start blinking red. "Oh how wonderful."

Pugnus stood near the docks of Beacon Academy, his forces were too large to keep on the school grounds. The only error preventing him from moving his forces outside the walls, is the fact he had a few severely wounded Skitarii. In the Astra Militarum, they would have been fixed with a bark of a laspistol. But this world prevented him from taking the most efficient route. If he were to order the mercy killing of even _one_ Skitarii, his political enemies could use that for propaganda. There were a few news programs that attempted to portray the Magos Dominus as an authoritarian conqueror. While they were partly correct, the larger information outlets showed all the good the Adeptus Mechanicus has done for this planet. And if anything got out of hand, the Talpa Code would _remove_ the offence.

With that tangent done he remembered why he was still here, the near death Skitarii were being held in the forge at Beacon Academy. The two Enginseers were repairing them slowly with the scraps of their dead comrades. He could order them to be sent up to his fleet for _conversions_ , but the transports have left at the start of the day. They would return within 24 hours to replace fresh recruits. All that Eights and Precision had to do was to keep them alive until then, for any more dead could be used to suggest the inferiority of the medical procedures of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Inferiority is not a trait of mankind, and Pugnus would have none under his command.

The forty electro-priests had to sleep in the spare rooms inside Beacon Academy, he was able to organize ten to a room designed for four until Professor Goodwitch caught on. Thankfully the Magos Dominus allowed Dominus Decium to stay behind to be yelled at as he left to check on the rest of his brigade. Dominus Ferrum reported that she had already chosen a spot for their encampment, Pugnus stared at the location in the Noosphere. It was deep into Emerald Forest, around five clicks, and it would be assaulted by Grimm at the same rate a village would. The Magos Dominus ignored her suggestion and placed FOB Wraith two clicks away from Vale. Ira then countered with setting up in the ruins of Mountain Glenn, due to it being mapped out by herself when she was there. Pugnus chuckled as he informed her, -No, I have plans for those ruins later.-

"All in all, I call today a success." commented Cinder as she stood upon a rooftop alongside her subordinates. Emerald nodded in agreement, as Mercury shook his head, the two Faunus stayed away from the conversation.

Emerald questioned her boss, "That crazed arsonist left before he could carry out his part of the plan. What should we do if we meet him again?"

"Demand his service or his head," ordered Cinder.

The grey haired kid pondered, "You still think the White Fang is going to listen to us after they lost a lot of grunts?"

The bull sneered at his insult of the organization. "No. But they'll listen to me." The raven Faunus stared at the group from afar as he constantly kept rubbing his hands together. Birdman had worked with Meadman for the majority of his life, for they each complemented the other's weakness. That is what made them inseparable, but not invincible. The Faunus felt a buzzing from his pocket, he quickly pulled out the device and stared at the blinking red light longingly. His comrade was still alive, and he would make sure they will meet again. After that? Since Meadman called the shots, Birdman was only certain of one thing. _Nothing_ would ever tear them apart.

The electronic blue glow of a computer was the only source of light in the room. The only occupant, a man covered in fire retardant suit, stared at the screen as he replayed the video footage. Nothing seemed to catch his eye, a gaggle of children not knowing how to hold a _proper_ conversation. That was until a _man_ caught his eye. His prize was dress up for an exploration into a safari, which was colored a mixture of browns and greens. The method of conversation came in a long metallic club; that he previously assumed to be that of a brute's choice. How ironic that his greatest joy came from one of his least errors. The tinted lenses were glued onto the screen, some of his flaky skin started to peel off as he lips formed a demonic smile. A raspy voice emitted to no one in particular, "If memory serves me justly, that would be…Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck! Yes, a professor at Beacon Academy. A shame how his talents are wasted within those putrid stone walls. I shall free Dr. Oobleck from his cage of metal by the power of _conversation_. Then like the great phoenix from the pitiful ashes of humanity, he shall be reborn!"

 **Afterword: Unlike in cannon, team RWBY and Doctor Oobleck were harmed by the train that they were on ramming into metal blast doors which caused an explosion. I do not know if I punished them too lightly or too heavily. During the fighting scenes attempted a different formula in writing than in previous chapters. Let me know what you think of all of this, so I can refine my writing style for future chapters. ALL forms of criticism is appreciated.**

 **End of Gleaming Giants Season One: First Contact**


	28. Chapter 24

**Reviews:**

 **Brake kid: Thanks for the support.**

 **H4mmond: Since I am in school I will be posting a chapter roughly once every week, but to be honest it will take longer than that due to more complex classes. I am planning to have this story more WH40k like while staying in the setting of RWBY. I will continue writing this story until I am finished with it, so there is no need to fear it being canceled early or on a permanent hiatus. At the start of writing this story, my computer did not think Adeptus Mechanicus was a word either. So you are not alone there.**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: Even in death I will serve the Omnissiah, for the machine is immortal.**

 **Forge Master 00: There should hopefully be no kids here due to the rating, but that doesn't really matter. Join the discord if you want to join the game or talk about the story and influence it.**

 **Guest (The First One): I know you were disappointed in their punishment, but nobody can die in season one unless the author is a sadist. Killing off characters is for season two! Oh wait, I killed Torchwick in season one. Disregard my previous statement. But I can confirm Forge Master 00's statements. I used a mortal wound chart my D &D group uses, but I rerolled if I got the same result. For some reason I was getting broken teeth a lot.**

 **Guest (The Second One): Pugnus knows about Cinder and her lackeys, and that Ozpin has a group already. He is just missing** _ **why**_ **. I can tell you that the fate of the maidens and a war against Salem will be a focus of a season in the future.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-readers: Forge Master 00**

 **Notes: For some reason, I have been lacking the drive to write. There are going to be a lot of scenes that include Pugnus and Ozpin in the following chapters to set the chessboard for the final checkmate.**

 **Changes: I am testing out a new syntax for Lingua Technis for the rest of season two because the minus symbols did not stand out enough for my liking. I found a name table for servitors and servo-skulls, so it will be decided by the Omnissiah's thrice blessed dice. Also, Skitarii will be named correctly now but the change to Domina will not start yet.**

Chapter Twenty-Four: Game of Wits

One week, that is the time constraint placed upon the Magos Dominus. Not by any foreign power, but ordered by himself. He had one week to find out why Cinder Fall infiltrated Beacon Academy. Half of Pugnus' cogitators focused on the blueprint of the prestigious school projected into the noosphere, while the other half of his mind scanned his surroundings. The tech-priest could have split his mind further, but he wanted this objective done with minimal discrepancies.

Ozpin watched the Magos Dominus silently as he moved throughout his school, his movements patterns were bizarre. Pugnus spent minimal time within sight of his cameras, but when he did his head swiveled to observe every inch in the room or hallway he was in. He was certainly not lost, for he wasted no time to check each option at an intersection of paths. He was not admiring the construction of his academy, for it was clear to him that they held no emotions. The tech-priest was looking for something. The headmaster wanted to know what.

Pugnus stopped in his footsteps as he read the message that had been sent to him via the noosphere. Headmaster Ozpin invited him to his office to play a game of chess. His cogitators informed him that the game of chess was an ancient Terrain board game which later inspired regicide. He sent back a reply after careful consideration, "I will fulfill your wish in losing a game of chess."

Ozpin chuckled to himself as he read the reply. Never did he expect that he would laugh at a joke told by an emotionless cyborg. Through the cameras he watched his soon to be opponent walk towards the elevator to his office without hesitation. Even more proof that he is not lost. Once the Magos Dominus reached the elevator he entered quickly, but he swiftness was halted when his metal hand stopped an inch away from the button that would send him to the top floor.

One minute has passed. Pugnus started to inspect the elevator more thoroughly then the hallways. Two minutes have passed. His mechadendrites ruptured from under his cloak, to slowly touch every inch of the elevator. Similar to horror movies about aliens with tentacles. Three minutes have passed. All of his limbs were back under his robes, his electronic blue eyes bored into the floor as if he was attempting to go down. Once his timer reached four minutes, the Magos Dominus exited the elevator and took the stairs.

The stairwell door creaked open, a blatant sign of its lack of use. Ozpin placed down his coffee mug as he watched Pugnus entered his office. "Are you ready for our game of chess? You seemed prepared for it in your response, but the time you spent getting up here says otherwise. Unless it was a joke."

A series of clicking noises emitted from the Magos Dominus. He caught his mistake and switched languages, "Apologies for speaking in my native tongue, I have been speaking only in Lingua-Technis for so long that I almost forgot to switch back to low gothic. The response I gave was not a joke, but a statement of a fact. I also inspected your elevator and devised a way to upgrade the weight capacity to allow tech-priests to access it. I see that you have set up the board already. I would have assumed a man like yourself would have chosen the white pieces?"

"The color of the pieces does not matter, but I assumed you would have preferred having your colors match up with your side. I would also wish to introduce another objective into the game. For every enemy piece you capture, you are allowed to ask one question. The topic of the question depends on the price of the piece. The same rule applies for myself as well," Explained Ozpin as he gestured to the chair in front of him, "Come on, you can sit in the chair. It is your turn after all."

Pugnus remained motionless as he stared at the offered chair, "If you elevator could not lift me, do you believe that this chair could?" The tech-priest did not wait for a reply as he used a mechadendrite to move a pawn to the E4 space.

Ozpin smirked as he countered with E5, "It was out of politeness rather than usefulness." Less than a second after the Headmaster's hand placed the pawn, the metal snake move his knight to F3. D6 was played to protect his central pawn, again Pugnus played without thinking with a pawn advancing onto D4. Ozpin could already tell he was already on the back foot in this game. He had to apply pressure or he would lose. His white squared bishop moved to G4, threatening Pugnus' Knight.

The tech-priest cared little as his pawn moved to the E5 space, capturing a pawn. "Why did you challenge me to a game of chess, while you know that my brain is the fastest computer on this planet?"

"I rarely have the chance to play a challenging game of chess, I have already memorized Ironwood's, Oobleck's, and Port's tactics. All of my other colleagues refuse you play against me," answered Ozpin as he hand drifted to his bishop in enemy territory. With a flick of his wrist, a black bishop now took up a square where a white knight used to be. "How much do you weigh?"

"Around two tonnes. Which is 2.20462 tones in your planet's units." His queen avenged the knight. "Why did you send in your minion into a situation where it would die?"

"I would not call my pieces minions, but it was a test of your playstyle." The headmaster paused to allow his pawn to move to capture the white pawn on E5. "Why did you not bother to save your knight?"

Pugnus juxtaposed as he moved his white square bishop to C4. "It already served its purpose to my plan, similar to your bishop." Ozpin noticed a potential move that could have ended the game already, his black night moved to F6 to sacrifice itself of the king. The Magos Dominus moved his queen across its rank to B3. The headmaster took his time for his next move, mostly because he saw checkmate against him in two turns. He knew that Pugnus saw it as well, but that was always a given.

The black queen moved to E7 in a guarding manner. A white knight moved to C3 to secure the hanging white pawn, but also to potential threat his queen. Black pawn to C6, blocking the path to the queen. The Magos Dominus applied a tactic his opponent ordered earlier, black square bishop to G5. Ozpin had to gamble to get control of the game, pawn to B5. Threatening the spearhead of Pugnus' forces, but the tech-priest did something unexpected on his turn. He waited. He paused, his mechadendrite hovering over his knight. A series of binary escaped his vox. "My apologies Ozpin, the reinforcements have arrived. I am required to attend the burial rituals of my soldiers and the introduction of their replacements."

"How long will the ceremony take? So that we can continue our game afterwards," questioned Ozpin as the tech-priest walk approaching the stairwell door.

Pugnus stopped in his tracks, without even turning around he quipped. "You have to capture a piece to ask a question, Headmaster."

The day so far for team JNPR was different. Their history class gained a substitute teacher, their lunch table was half empty, and four seats in every class were left unfilled by their sister team. What surprised them was how nobody stopped to acknowledge the emptiness, besides themselves and team SSSN. The world kept on turning, and it felt that team RWBY just _disappeared_ off the face of Remnant. The team leader proposed as they walked down the hallways. "We should visit team RWBY after combat class."

Nora jumped into the air with a fist raised, "Yes! Another perfect plan from our fearless leader!"

"Do you even know where they are being treated? Or even if all of them are conscious" questioned Ren.

Pyrrha countered, "We can always just call them to find out what happened."

Jaune fished out his scroll and looked at the recent calls, with a simple press of a button he called Ruby Rose and put the phone on speaker. Instead of the expected innocent and happy voice of the weapon fanatic, a stern and threatening masculine voice emitted from the scroll. "Who are you and why are you calling my daughter?"

The team leader's eyes widened as he struggled to reply, "Uh…a…I-i am Jaune Arc. Who are you?"

"I am Ruby's father. How do you know her?"

Jaune continued to stammer, but thankfully his partner came to his aid. "Mr. Rose, we are all friends with Ruby and her team."

A short pause came from the scroll before the man corrected them. "Mr. Rose? I am Taiyang Xiao Long. Surely my daughters talked about their huntsman father?"

"Neither Ruby or Yang talked about their family, except for an Uncle Crow." explained Ren.

Mr. Xiao Long sighed before responding, "She always did aspire to be like him. I will meet you at the hospital Ruby is in, the location is already sent to your scroll."

Magos Dominus Pugnus reached the temporary camp for his forces on Beacon grounds. The original plan was to be inserted onto the location of the FOB via air, but the dense foliage and trees prevented the most efficient route. Their current task was to create a convoy to protect the more expensive units until they reach their desired location. Thankfully for the servants of the Omnissiah, Grimm are attracted to negative emotions. Their emotion dampeners will have the results of them encountering a hoard reduced by 48.571% with a percent error of 31.578%. The idea of how the Grimm can scene emotions, _if_ they even do, is all theory. With no studies done by the natives of the planet and no time for him to spare on an investigation, left the tech-priest with no facts to base his operations on beside firsthand accounts.

Pugnus was pulled out of his logic trance when his personal servo-skull, Claudio 377, appeared in the sight of his optical augmentations. +What are your orders?+ questioned the floating human skull.

In the noosphere, a blueprint of Beacon Academy appears was displayed, with a specific point of entry was highlighted in crimson read. +You will enter the ventilation shafts via the predesignated position, and follow the preordained path. During the entire mission you will be recording everything that you see, and every hour the video will be forwarded to the fleet. Do not be seen at any costs, if you are found out do _not_ get captured.+ Claudio 377 dipped forward as it moved towards the school.

The newspaper headlines read: _'The Vytal Festival Moved Back a Week! Grimm Rampaging Vale!'_ Dr. Polendina snarled as he read deeper into the article. _His_ entire plan had to be set back just because those pacifist Valians could protect their own capital. It could be considered overreacting to be furious after losing a week of time. He lacked the proper materials, but he could use synthetic replacements. He lacked followers, but augmentations could change that. He lacked the required technology, but he could use some from his home world secretly. He lacked time, but there was no way to get that back!

Dr. Polendina knows he has until the Adeptus Mechanicus annexes Atlas to finish his plan. Which is barely enough time to finish, for the slaves of the corpse-god have already hacked into every network connected to the CCT. For how else would they have known about Project Penny? If he is desperate enough to save his life, he could always betray Atlas when the war breaks out. But that would require him to destroy all of his work, and to persuade a tech-priest form _Metalica_ that he was not a heretek. Highly improbable. His last two options are to assist Atlas in the war or go into hiding.

Verraeter's calculations stopped when he realized what the corpse dogs were doing. They were attempting a peaceful conquest of this planet. That means there would be no war, and then everything that Atlas owns would be turned over to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Dr. Polendina could not afford there not being a war. The Magos Errant added a new primaris objective to his cogitators: Start a war between Atlas and the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The Magos Dominus stood near the gates of Vale with his fellow Domini and Enginseers around him. His loyal forces stood at the ready behind him in convoy formation, the more valuable assets at the center surrounded by a wall of Skitarii and Kataphrons. Some of the locals were curious what has happened, but that was not important. Right now he had to debrief his subordinates. +Since you all were part of the planning phase of this operation, I will keep this brief. We are going to march to the future location of our FOB on this planet. We will not stop unless we are engaged. Once we reach our destination, a clearing must be made so that we can have our craft land supplies directly to us. Expected enemies are Grimm, but the quantity and quality is unknown. There is a squadron of Fury Interceptors a few clicks away if CAS is needed. Any questions?+

Dominus Decium asked, +Rules of engagement for any non-grimm contacts?+

+Do not fire unless fired upon. Any other questions?+ answered Pugnus. There was a pause before he spoke again, +Then we shall start the operation. May the Omnissiah guide us all.+ The gates of Vale creaked open at the silent order of the Magos Dominus. The legions of metal silently marched out of the city, as the locals watched silently.

 **Afterword: I am considering putting in short Omakes at the end of some chapters. What do you guys think?**


	29. Chapter 25

**Reviews:**

 **Janne Rolfe Jaladoni: While I will be writing more chapters, school it back in full swing and not pulling punches. Thanks for the support. All praise and glory to the Omnissiah!**

 **ForgeMaster00: I may sound like a broken record but join the discord! It makes communication and getting the characters in character easier. Also, might host a warhammer rpg with the people in the discord.**

 **Husebad: I would probably just put them at the ends of chapters**

 **Guest: Uh, that sounds close to heresy. But I will put that on the list for omakes.**

 **Gabe2000: Omakes will be as canon as the specials. But I must say, this pineapple will make a perfect present for my friend who hates pineapples.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers: JVMM**

 **Notes: I will be doing Omakes now at the end of chapters. The regularity and content of said omakes will vary greatly. It feels weird to write any of the chapters involving team RWBY and team JNPR, but I do not know why though.**

 **Last Chapter Errors: I realized how sloppy the last chapter was, and I apologize for forgetting to finish fleshing out the scene with Taiyang. But to spend time fixing that would spend the limited time I have to write on something other than this chapter.**

Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Convoys and Convalescence

Dominus Ferrum was leading the convoy spearhead, or in layman's terms the meat shields. The forests of Vale were deathly silent, except for the armies of the Omnissiah brazenly marching through it. A pathway was there, but it was not worn in. The canopies of the trees were thick enough to block complete vision of the sky, but enough to allow light to illuminate the forest floor. It was almost humorous for the tech-priest to see how untouched these woods are, in comparison to their cities. For the most technologically advanced feudal world she had read about, they left their forest to the chaos of nature and the Grimm. Their cities are truly the only beacons of civilization.

Her train of thought terminated when she received word that a Kataphron caught one of its tracks in a pothole. She quickly gave the command for the nearest Skitarii to aid the ensnared battle servitor. She rebooted her observations; _'These primitives' arrogance has no bounds. They claim being in an age of peace while training their children to hold back the wrath of nature. They have propaganda spread among the youth to get them sacrifice themselves, only to delay the inevitable ruination of their cities. The resilience and stubbornness of mankind is displayed on this planet as they refuse to yield to the Grimm. But they lack the order, fury, and wrath to be able to push back the Grimm. And that is what the Adeptus Mechanicus brings to this benighted sphere of dirt in a galaxy of endless war.'_

Ozpin and Ironwood were in a call with each other as they watched the off-worlder convoy through a pair of Atlesian camera drones. The General watched silently, this is an example of what he wanted to do to protect Vale. But the headmaster had denied he proposals to rid the areas around Vale of the Grimm. A curious voice came from his scroll, "What do you think they are doing James?"

He paused before answering, "Exterminating the Grimm outside the walls of Vale, that is what Pugnus promised the citizens when he interrupted my speech. The waves of soldiers under Ira and Quin were around the same number of squads, but the one under Pugnus himself was disproportionate. This is all of his forces, that is why he is striking before anyone can react."

Ozpin interrupted him, "All of his forces you say? I could see that as a possibility. When we were playing chess against each other he had a habit of developing his pieces into supporting or attacking positions. His nature is aggressive, but I do not believe he would show his own hand after the Queen showed one of her cards. I believe he is keeping his trump card hidden while this total mobilization is just a feint."

Ironwood chuckled to himself, "So you roped him into going against you in chess, who won the game?"

"We did not finish actually, for he left the table to do this. But he did say we would continue," explained the Headmaster. James was a little peeved that the tech-priest escaped Ozpin's strongest addiction, while drinking coffee is right after it. He even named a team after his favorite drink.

The Magos Dominus knew that he was being watched, for it is impossible to hide snow white drones in a forest of green from the Adeptus Mechanicus. With no reports of Grimm in the surrounding areas he called the headmaster of Beacon. To his surprise the old man answered within 0.28 seconds of the call being initiated. The reason why was clear to him when he noticed General Ironwood and the video feed from the drones in the same call. Pugnus stated, "Knight takes pawn on B5. What are you two watching me?"

The headmaster was quick on his feet. "The General and I were worried about your safety. Pawn takes knight on B5. Where are you going?"

"Into the untouched forests of this planet. Bishop takes pawn on B5, check. Why _chess_ out of all games?" questioned the Magos Dominus.

Before Ozpin could answer Ironwood informed the cyborg, "He is addicted to the game more than coffee. Is this all of you forces?"

Pugnus stopped James in his tracks with a condescending tone, which was surprising for a machine. "General, you have to take a piece to ask a question. And that would be a question for if my queen falls. And only Ozpin can ask and answer questions. You can as well but that would mean we would have to play a separate game of chess."

"Queen side Knight to D7. Your move" stated Ozpin.

Before the Magos Dominus could respond a shot was fired from one of the Transuranic Arquebus, with a faint sound of a dying beowolf following afterwards. A binary curse emitted from his vox. How could he have been so lax to forget about scanning for Grimm entirely. He terminated the call with the Headmaster and began to assess the situation. +Dominus Ferrum and Dominus Decium, sitrep.+

+No signs of Grimm at the spearhead,+ responded Ira.

Quin reported, +Beowolves were spotted in the distance but they appeared to not notice us.+ So the xenos were smart enough to not attempt to stop his forces from moving, instead they were on the flanks and rear. Or they are just lucky enough to be there at the right time, and can the Grimm be classified as xenos? Questions for Magos Biologis Nova. The convoy was 852 meters away from FOB Wraith, that would take at least 21 minute and 18 seconds to get there if they were unopposed. He could order his soldiers to encamp this position and fend of any Grimm that might assault them. Or he could continue the convoy and be ambushed.

He ordered, +Keep moving, once a Grimm larger than a beowolf is spotted stop the convoy.+

Team JNPR entered the darkened room to see what Taiyang claimed they would; Ruby and Weiss each in their own hospital beds with Tai sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Weiss whispered as she shook her partner awake. "Ruby, team JNPR is here to see you."

Ruby weakly rubbed her eyes as she unraveled herself from the cocoon of blankets over her. Nora as the first to comment on the state of the room. "Why is it so dark in here? Wait, did you guys turn into a _VAMPIRE_!"

The crimson teen covered her ears at the harsh sounds, while grimacing. "Ruby got a concussion from the…incident," explained Tai.

The hyperactive ginger looked to her partner for an explanation. "That means bright lights, loud noises, and thinking hurts her head."

"Silly Ren, that what happens to me when I do the homework from Oobleck's class." countered the hammer wielder.

"Then why is Weiss here?" asked Jaune. While we would have flirted with his snow angel, now was not the proper time to do so.

Weiss spoke slowly to properly pronounce each word, "I broke my nose."

"And I told her to stay here to watch over Ruby, and to call me if anything happens. And since they all experienced aura exhaustion they are not fit to return to classes until next week." Tai added saving the heiress from talking more than she should.

Ruby's eyes went wide. "What about the Vytal Festival? Are we going to miss it?"

Her father chuckled as he approached her bed. The huntsmen ruffled her hair as he spoke, "Don't worry about that Rubes. The tournament was moved back until your team is all rested up. You can go back to sleep now. Can't win the tournament if you are too tired to stand up." The crimson team leader nodded in agreement before snuggling back into her soft blankets and started to drift asleep. Taiyang motioned for team JNPR to follow him as he left the room. The huntsmen in training took one last glance at their friends before leaving.

The time between the reports of beowolf spotting increases as they reached closer to FOB Wraith, but nothing of concern was reported. 426 meters, 10 minutes and 3.9 seconds left to march. It felt that this mission was blessed by the Omnissiah itself to be without fault. By his cogitator's predictions, he had 40.2 seconds before the next report of Grimm. Pugnus watched silently as his internal chronometer ticked down. At 29.5 seconds left on the chronometer, Quin reported that a Skitarii spotted a small pack of Grimm in the distance, with at least three Ursai. The Magos Dominus moved to the nearest Kataphron to sit on its treds, and once he was secure his eyes went dark.

Pugnus awoke in a body that was unfamiliar to him, the tech-priest had done this process more times then he could count but it took time to familiarize with the body. Glancing down the scope of the galvanic rifle in his hands he spotted the threat outside the killzone of his weapon. The group of xenos were moving through the forest and would on occasion snarl at the convoy. Was it out of fear, hatred, or anticipation of battle? He could not tell. Pugnus was a Dominus, not a Biologis. The Grimm was not a threat now, but it was highly likely that they would engage them later.

Dominus Decium watched as one of the Skitarii near him stopped marching with blank eyes. So the Magos did not trust him enough to take his observations as facts. Instead of feeling insulted, his emotional inhibitors made the tech-priest filled with a sense of disappointment. Why did Pugnus trusted him less than Ira? She is the youngest out of the three of them. While he did not agree with the Magos' actions Quin does acknowledge and respect his authority. The dominus watched as twelve Ironstridders - half armed with twin cognis lascannons and the rested using twin cognis autocannon - trot out of formation and to the rear of the convoy.

The three Ursai disintegrated under a wave of lasers, with their meatshields being shredded by the autocannons. Dominus Decium watched in a bored stare as the remaining beowolves charged the convoy, wait his cogitators made an error there. As they _attempted_ to charge, only to be cut down by a second volley from the Ironstridders. It appears that the Magos did not want to tempt fate by sparing a few squads of Skitarii to eliminate the small pack.

The Magos Dominus was not surprised when he received news of the results from the Ironstridders. 8 minutes and 59.5 seconds left until they reach the FOB, by the graces of the Omnissiah this operation might be a simple one with zero caustiles.

Once they were far enough away from the room Tai started to fully explain the situation. "Yang broke her arm, Blake has two fractured ribs and internal bleeding. They will be partly recovered for the tournament. Both Weiss and Ruby know about this, but I do not want to keep Ruby awake more then she should."

"Can we see them?" questioned Pyrrha with concern clearly in her voice.

The huntsmen rubbed the back of his neck as he silently moved his lips. "Last time I checked, Blake was in surgery to fix her ribs and to make sure nothing else happened. Yang is awake, but she is not a happy little camper due to her arm. Oh, that reminds me. I have to go check on Barty, you guys can go meet Yang and tell her I will be there soon."

Tai made leave as Jaune asked his fleeting figure, "Who's Barty?"

At 3 minutes and 54 seconds left until they reached FOB Wraith, his convoy suffered their first casualty. An unfortunate Skitarii Ranger with a Nevermore's feather holding his corpse upright. The creature was smart enough to attempt to use the tree canopies to cover it's approach, but once the avian grimm stopped to attack the convoy the icarus array onager opened fire. The trees block a portion of the feathers and some of their rockets and bullets against it. But the daedalus missile has a confirmed hit by the screech of the bird. Pugnus overlooked the squad that was hit with the feathers, there was only one dead so far but other Skitarii were wounded. Without needing orders, Precision started to repair any of the soldiers that were worth the time and materials. Based on the Enginseer's actions, the Magos Dominus added another four Skitarii to the casualty list.

A bestial screech filled the air around him, the beast is coming for another run. The onager was already trained on the direction, with Eights assisting the blessed machine. Pugnus spotted the black form of the Nevermore through the leaves as the icarus array fired. The bullets pierced the thin underbelly of the monster, but the missile and rockets smashed into the left wing. As the altitude of the Grimm decreased, the Magos Dominus sent a simple order to the sydonian dragoons. Suffer not the xenos to live. And without complaint, the six dunestridders - with their taser lances prepared - marched into the woods to exterminate their prey.

 **Omake 1: Noosphere Chat (Primarch Bike)**

 _Toaster has joined the chat._

Toaster: Since when did we have a chat room?

Lord_Adornable: Hello, I am Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion. I was directed to this chat when I asked who has my bike…

Toaster: Do you have the required supplies for us to build one?

Lord_Adornable: I believe that is your job... or should I tell father, your Emperor, that you have failed your task?

Toaster: We were not given the materials for us to create the bike. We can build it without the material but that might upset the machine spirit which we lead to the bikes failure.

Forge_Master00: Uh Dorn didn't You learn your lesson last time?

Lord_Adornable: I will send for your payment after you finish, correctly this time, use Jaghatai Khan's bike shed for materials.

Toaster: I require a down payment of half of the original price, the other half you can pay after you receive you bike

Red_WarpNerd: Dorn leave these toaster huggers to their business, you were supposed to put that server code into warpchat, not discord chat.

Lord_Adornable: Thank you brother, I was mistaken. I believed the term discord was a clever synonym to disguise this from the inquisition, my apologies, and good day.

 _Red_WarpNerd has left the chat._

 _Lord_Adornable has left the chat._

Forge_master00: well that was a thing... how did Magnus find us?

Toaster: Warp fuckery. But how did he access the noosphere?

Chaos_Queen: That was me actually…the stone face wouldn't log off until he got a response so I sent Magnus a Warp message.

Forge_master00: huh... wait how do you know Magnus?!

Chaos_Queen: a witch never tells, Ciao.

 _Chaos_Queen has left the chat._

ForgeMaster00: Well that was a thing.

Toaster: You really need to keep you characters in control from causing chaos.

ForgeMaster00: first off, I can only truly control my alternates. Rose is more of a conscience, while Sage is basically a split personality that I have no control over…

Magos: The only reason you can control your characters is because we are all emotionless. Also it is hard for you to properly write a character with emotions.

Toaster: I can write a character with emotions, but Ad Mech has no emotions. And who allowed you in here?

Magos: I can access the noosphere as well. I allowed myself in because marching in the convoy is boring.

Void_DragonMyFood: Remember I can control you all so behave!

Toaster: Wait, when did you get here? I do not remember anyone else in this chat besides ForgeMaster, the others in the discord, and myself.

Void_DragonMyFood: This is my Chat, so I'm always here. What did you think that you are the admin of this server, check the admin list.

Toaster: Okay, I will be back with the results.

 _Toaster has left the chat_

 **Afterword: Thanks to ForgeMaster00 for helping in this omake.**


	30. Omakes Chapter

**Reviews:**

 **Gabe2000: I might use your idea of a genestealer pineapple for later use. I am glad to hear that you are liking the story so far.**

 **Guest: I will keep those omake ideas in the bag, incase another chapter like this happens or if one can be put at the end of a chapter.**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: The foolish feudals will soon find that the fruition of a time free of war is for naught. Abandon reason, know only war! The Adeptus Mechanicus is prepared for blood to be spilled, but the primitives may not.**

 **ForgeMaster 00: Yeah, Forge is helping me write the omakes. If you want to help out as well, join the discord!**

 **Jetjedi (From Chapter 14): Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English/Daemonic Speak**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic/Daemonic Yelling**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers:**

 **Notes: Since I am planning on doing a Halloween Special, I will not have enough time to write an acceptable regular chapter. And to wait till the end of the month to post a chapter would be longer than needed. So Forge gave me the idea that I should make a chapter purely out of Omakes. The chance of this ever happening again if up to fate.**

 **Discord Link: /CCVq47H (if it does not work pm me)**

Omake Chapter One

Adventures of Toaster and Forge #01: The Heist

On the forgeworld of [REDACTED] we find a tech priest Magos with octopus inspired legs augments approaching a pedestal that is being bathed in a holy aura. For on that pedestal is his prize. A toaster. The tech-priest glances at the bag of nuts and bolts being held by one of his mechadendrites. He judges his goal before emptying 56 grams of scrap metal from the pouch. With a swift and practiced motion he swaps the toaster with the bag of metal. The Magos takes a moment to pray to the Omnissiah for his success, but his prayers were terminated with the sound of klaxon alarms rebounding through the forge. The tech-priest cursed to himself from not taking his sicarian infiltrator augments with him.

His personal servo-skull reports hearing thousands upon thousands of galvanic rifles being armed. But before he could prepare to be riddled with holes, an ironclad hand of a marine grabbed onto his green cloak with yellow edges yanking him backwards. The Magos turns around to see a Martian tech priest with a yellow angry marine. +Fuck,+ was all the green tech-priest could say before a new group entered the conflict. A hoard of necron scarabs all eyeing the toaster with an unnatural hunger fit only for a Tyranid. The space marine drops the thief of a tech-priest to engage the xenos.

The Magos started to mumble to himself as he watched the encounter unfold. +Give the toaster to the marine or the xenos.+ One of his mechadendrites came out from under his robes to point at the angry marine and started bouncing between the astartes and the scarabs. +Eine mini miny…MINE!+ The tech-priest bolted to the door, past the marine using a power chair to squash the necron constructs. As he turned around the corner he spotted a peculiar sight. A black robed Magos unloading a full canister of plasma into a female, who strangely enjoyed it - much to the displeasure of the Magos. By the time the green Magos understood what was happening, the angry marine leading a legion of skitarii rounded the corner.

+Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.+ muttered the thief as his refractor shield lit up his path as the galvanic rifles began to unload into it. He ordered his bionic repair modules to be overclocked as the tech-priest turned at every corner he saw. His silent prayer to the Omnissiah were answer when he spotted the doors to the hanger. +This is the day you will always remember as the day you _almost_ caught Magos Toaster.+ taunted the now named tech-priest as he locked the hanger door behind him.

Toaster's personal cogitators warned him that the doors will not hold for long. But he dismissed that warning remembering how Dark Angel Terminators used doors to hold off Broodlords while on a space hulk. Focusing his attention to the room he now found himself in, the Magos spotted a Martian enginseer doing a maintenance check on a tank of a pattern he did not recognize. And by the grace of the Omnissiah the enginseer did not notice him yet. Toaster moved to steal the tank, but a clicking sound stopped him in his tracks. The Magos turned to see a lone necron scarab coming out of the door's control ports. Its focus was on Toaster's toaster. The Magos stepped backward to avoid the xenos, while doing so he accidentally started the activation sequence of the tank without saying the Litany of Ignition.

The tank punches through the wall with the Martian Enginseer chasing it, with the Magos following behind with the scarab chasing. Toaster began to think out his options. _'Okay, now I just have to kill this scarab and get back to my ship.'_ His mechadendrites searched his pockets for an answer to his dilemma. _'Eradication ray? Nope that would be overkill. Omnissian axe? Don't want to risk harming the toaster while in melee. Xenos technology…who put this here! Macrostubber? Lacking firepower. Ah this will do.'_ Two of his mechadendrites pulled out an augmented skull. Toaster spoke to the remains of the corpse, +Ah Bill-315, one of my servo-skulls I… _found_ on my last mission.+ The Magos chucked the skull without care at the scarab destroying it. On the horizon, he spotted his only chance of escape. His own ship; surrounded by the legion of skitarii, a squad of angry marines, and a full anti titan gun. But then the five o'clock shift end and everyone goes to their living habits to relax the rest of the day.

Toaster slouched down in his chair, with the holy toaster in his lap as the bounded crew began to leave the forge world. But his ship had an unwanted passenger in the form of a xenos scarab with a skull shaped dent on its shell. This guest was currently having a snack out of the toaster. The green robed tech-priest stared at the necron construct as it took another bite out of the pure machine. **+NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO%#^#}{]{()457+,|4)$$:%^+** screamed the Magos as his vox started to malfunction due to the volume of the sound. Toaster's eradication ray quickly charged to full power before unleashing its wrath upon the xenos. The tech-priest cradled the remains of the immortal toaster in his hands as he curled into a ball on the floor on his ship. If Toaster did completely augment his face, then it would be coated by a river of tears.

Just as the ship landed and the hatch begins to open, the Magos spots the female that was attacked by the Stygies Magos earlier. She stares at the remains of the scarab, the smell of burnt ozone reached Toaster's receptors as the xenos construct came back to life. But she was graceful enough to create a pile of toasters for the tech-priest before leaving with the scarab and the damaged relic. The Magos' cogitators bricked due to an overload of euphoria. His honor squad of secutarii hoplites moved to the landing pads to bring their owner and the pile of venerable toasters to the inner sanctums of the forge.

Adventures of Toaster and Forge #02: The difference of HATE and Angry

The lights of the forge illuminate the room, while the time of day is unknown their senses informed them it was near night. But night has no relevance in the sealed metal rooms of ceaseless work. But in defiance a greater daemon of Khorne screamed out into the endless halls, **"SKARBRAND HATES WAITING FOR UPDATES!"**

"Silence you impudent brat!" berated a greater daemon of Tzeentch. His second head spoke, "I would not resent an exchange of words."

 **"SKARBRAND HATES BEING YELLED AT!"** yelled the Bloodthirster at the fellow entity of the warp.

The second head of the Lord of Change muttered, "Would it be considered yelling if he always yells?"

A female tech-priest grabbed in red robes with a childlike appearance around her joined the conversation. "Ok shut up please, some of us are trying to sleep!"

 **"SKARBRAND HATES THE QUIET!"** bellows Skarbrand as he has to bend his neck to see the crimson tech-priest.

"Well Skarbrand will hate what I'm about to do more! So shut up!" argued the mortal to the two immortal creatures.

The daemon countered, **"SKARBRAND CANNOT HATE ANYTHING MORE THAN HE ALREADY DOES, AND AS SUCH SKARBRAND HATES YOUR SUGGESTION!"**

The tech-priest pulled out a modified vox-hololith and started a call. Kairos' second head noticed an image of a bowl of soup with curse words surrounding it on the display screen of the machine, as his primary head peered into the weaves of fate. Both head spoke in a discordant unison, "fRaKk." The greater daemon spawned a portal to the immaterial plane before hastily slipping into it.

"Well you asked for it!" threatened Rose.

From the security room a red robbed tech-priest gasped to his fellow tech-priest next to him. +Oh dear god no! Toaster, grab your stuff. We need to bail, NOW!+

Toaster used his hive of mechadendrites to hold sixty four melta bombs before giving them to Forge. The green robed Magos agreed with his ally, +I will get the scared machines! Forge, set melta bombs on anything we can't bring! We can't let either of them defile this place!+

The Forge Master Leo nodded in agreement, but both of their tasks were terminated when an 8.5 level earthquake affected the entire forge. +By the Omnissiah he's already here! Did I ever tell you who Rose's father was?+ questioned Forge as they both started to leave the security room.

+I heard rumors, and I pray they were false.+ Toaster hoped as they were approaching the hangers.

As they reached the hallway to get to the hanger the Forge Master started explaining. +If they were about her father being a space marine, then it is true! Even worse, is his Legion! He's an-!+

The pair of tech-priest were knocked off their feet due to a second explosion coming from the hanger door. An adeptus astarte colored with pure yellow with a red trim, on his chest plate was a crimson circle that had two eyes, a frown, and a giant pair of black eyebrows. The marine yelled at the top of his enhanced lungs, **"ANGRY MARINE!"**

+Oh frakk! Quick, machine spirit of the forge! Activate defense program!+ ordered Forge, to which the machine spirit obeyed. A void shield was activated around the pair of tech-priest. Before the Angry Marine could attempt to break the energy wall down two more entered the encounter.

"Angry Dad!" joyously screamed Rose with a greater daemon in tow.

Skarbrand yelled in despair, **"SKARBRAND WAS WRONG! SKARBRAND HATES BEING WRONG!"** The astartes and the exiled of Khorne charged at each other with their own battle cries echoing throughout the forge- a myriad of curses and 'HATE' respectively. Rose was in the background of the fight waving a small flag that said 'Go Angry Dad!'

The green robed tech-priest questioned his college, +I heard Rose's father was a greater daemon of Khorne. But I think that this might be worse. Back to matter involving our survival, how long will the void shield hold?+

+Long enough for us to get into the Macrocarid Explorator. I made this one with a Flare Shield _and_ thrice blessed armored ceramite.+ explained the Forge Master as the Magos began to remove items from his cloak.

Toaster pulled out the detonator as he gave Forge a simple order. +You go first, I will be right behind you after I detonate all of the melta bombs.+ Instead of replying, Forge's form flickered light a faulty lightbulb. The Magos now noticed the servo-skull behind the hologram that was projecting the image. A war horn blared from the hanger, the green robed tech-priest quickly scuttled to the Macrocarid Explorator to slither into the passenger seat. +Have you recited the Litany of Ignition?+

+Yes. And Rose has the gunner seat incase anything attacks us.+ Forge replied as his steel foot slammed onto the accelerator. The Macrocarid Explorator left the hanger at high speeds through the Macrocarid Explorator shaped hole that was created earlier. Allowing them to escape the clash of the titans.

 **"SKARBRAND WILL DESTROY YOU! SKARBRAND HATES DESTROYING ANGRY MARINES SLIGHTLY LESS!"** bellowed the Bloodthrister.

Fucking Soup agreed with him, **"I KNOW YOU DO BUT WHAT ABOUT ME?! IT'S TIME TO CRUSH YOUR BITCH ASS BACK INTO THE WARP!"**

The melta charges detonated at the exact second Fucking Soup's and Skarbrand's fist collided. The result was a tear in the warp in place of the entire forge. Forge looked back at the ruins of his home through the rear view mirror. +Damn it…that's the third forge this year.+

+Do not worry. You can stay at my forge until your forge is rebuilt,+ Toaster stated in an attempt to cheer up the fellow servant of the Omnissiah.

The Forge Master let out a sigh of relief, +Thanks, just no pineapples please. You know I hate those.+

Three miles above a random forest no Remnant we find the falling form of Skarbrand getting suplexed by Fucking Soup. **"SKARBRAND HATES FALLING!"**

 **"AND I HATE YOUR YELLING!"** countered Soup as he let go of the greater daemon before they impacted the planet. Resulting in a nearby mountain range of Mistral collapsing, leaving the continent in ruins. The astartes taunted the rubble, "That's what your bitch ass gets!"

The light of the sun was blocked out by a gusher of broken soil as Skarbrand broke the earthen tomb, **"SKARBRAND HATES HUMILIATION! SKARBRAND WILL NOT PROCEED TO PUNCH YOU!"** True to his statement - why would he lie, he does not serve Tzee…wait - Fucking Soup was sent at terminal velocity across the crystal blue oceans.

The angry marine landing in a five foot tall mound of snow that was under the gaze of a pure white city. "What the hell?" The astartes sat up and grabbed at the white powered as if it confused him. **"WHY THE HELL AM I IN PANSY ASS ATLAS?!"** On the horizon a red speck could be seen, and it was growing larger by the second. Soup hastily got on his feet, his arms thrusted into the ground below himself. **"I'M FUCKING READY FOR YOUR ASS THIS TIME!"** Channeling his eternal rage into his arms, Fucking Soup lifted the _entire_ city of Atlas. To which he used as an improvised bludgeoning weapon against the greater daemon.

Fucking Soup stood on top of all of the rubble; using a power sword as a pencil on a random scrap of stone that he found. "Here lies the most PANSY ASS people I knew," stated the marine as we wrote on the improvised grave stone. But before the astartes could go home, the mound of rubble started to shake.

 **"SKARBRAND HATES GETTING CRUSHED BY A CITY!"** You might be wondering how he survived all of that blunt force trauma, but then again Skarbrand did survive getting bitchslapped by Khorne across the warp. **"SKARBRAND WILL SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!"** Using his unholy speed, the Bloodthirster chucked Soup to the shattered moon - making it even more broken.

The Angry Marine watched Remnant from space, but it appears when he broke the moon even more caused it to be pulled further into the planet's gravitational pull. Soup was proved wrong when he realized that it was not the moon moving towards the planet, it was the planet heading towards the moon. All by the deeds of Skarbrand's unquantifiable strength. "Well I'm boned." The pure energy caused by the impact sent the astartes to an unknown place.

+You know, I'm surprised it worked out that well. Normally Fucking Soup runs after me and tries to beat me to death for attempting to escape from him.+ commented Forge as the Macrocarid Explorator approached a new forge in the distance.

His co-pilot groaned as he rubbed his face with his hands. +Motive Force preserve me. You just tempted Tzeentch to fuck with us.+ In the warp, an oversized two headed chicken sneezed in twelve different tongues.

The driver only dismissed his claims, +Meh, it can't be that bad. I mean Fucking Soup doesn't even know where you live. And I took away Rose's terminal so she can't tell him.+

+The warp works in _chaotic_ ways,+ jested Toaster as they reached the entrance to the forge.

+Look here we are, can you open your garage so I don't have to leave this beauty outside?+ questioned the Forge Master as the Magos began to shift his mechadendrites into his robes.

The green robed tech-priest explained as he searched his pockets. +The garage door can only be opened by a specific sound. And I have the apparatus somewhere that will create said sound.+ Toaster pulls out a tiny green clown horn - the mark of his forge and a serial number can be seen on the bell - and squeezes it. A pathetic honk emits from it and the steel garage doors slowly open.

The Martian shuddered at the sound as he mumbles, +Clowns…+

+Hey. This is a perfect security method. Nobody has a clown horn any more, except clowns.+ argued the Magos as the Macrocarid Explorator parked inside the garage.

+So what? You let Harlequins into your forge…or worse Cegorach.+ rebuttal Forge as he started to turn off the engine.

+Surprisingly the Harlequins are too busy pranking Chaos to mess with me. Sometimes they even come here for a cup of coffee while regaling tales of pranks long past. While I do hate xenos as much as the next faithful member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, I have no wish to have another group of people attempting to kill me.+ explained Toaster.

The Forge Master remembered back to his old experiences with those eldars. +You are a braver soul than I. I once borrowed a book from the black library…and returned it a day late…I can still hear the puns and prop comedy.+

They both exited the Macrocarid Explorator as the green robed tech-priest remarked, +I myself am a fan of puns and pranks. For example, I replaced a guardsmen squad's bayonets with short metal pipes.+

+Why? Also, is that normal for you?+ the Martian asked as he stepped away from his fellow tech-priest.

Toaster turned to face his friend. +Why? A more fitting question is why not? My pranks occur at irregular rates so that my victims will not expect it. But do not worry my friend, you are safe from my pranks.+

+Yeah good to know…+ rambled Forge as something caught his attention. A terminal in the garage was shuddering, electricity sparked off the wires, and the screen saver was flashing. +Is that terminal supposed to do that?+

The Magos turned to face the OSHA hazard, his metal hands pointed finger guns at the terminal. +Um, well no. But since it is we should probably move away from it.+ Both of them followed his advice, the screensaver turned from his forge's icon to a red angry face. Toaster whispered to Forge, +I frakking told you.+ Instead of answering, the Forge Master pulled them both into the Macrocarid Explorator and shut the ramp. Luckily for them after the ramp sealed, a beam of energy obliterated the entire forge. The ramp of the Maccaroid fell off of its hinges as the pair of tech-priest looked upon the ruins.

+Wow. I knew this thing was tough, but not that tough. It looks like we're going to need to find a place to rebuild your forge, ey Toast…+

The Magos' augmented eyes flashed a crimson red. +You are no longer safe from my pranks.+ The pile of crates next to the terminal - which was surprisingly unharmed by the explosion - began to shift around. A heavy flamer revealed itself from under the green robes. After a tense 10.19 seconds, the crates clattered onto the floor allowing the pair of tech-priest to see a slightly wounded - and still angry - Fucking Soup. +Welp, this is your problem Forge. I will be outside until you are done.+

Running out of options, the Martian turned to his last hope of safety. +Uh, Rose? A little help here?+ Her only reply was a devious smirk as the astartes starting to stand up from the ground.

Rose started to sniffle as she meekly approached her father, she reached him and wrapped her arms around his left leg in a comforting hug. "Daddy…he took my terminal when all I wanted was to see you again." Fucking Soup snapped his murderous gaze upon the beyond terrified Forge Master as he waved a small white flag.

 **Afterword: Thanks to Forge for helping me with these Omakes. The character Fucking Soup comes from** _ **'Angry Marine on Remnant**_ **' by Death Korps Commissinar. Since the next chapter is the Halloween Special, leave any ideas you want included in the reviews or pm it to me. Also I need some ideas for costumes that team RWBY and JNPR is going to be wearing.**


	31. Halloween Special

**Reviews:**

 **Tssseppanen: Since Kelbor-Hal was part of the Schism of Mars, which if I am correct is redacted from history like the Horus Heresy, the tech-priests will not know who he is, but they would recognize it is a heretek. Mostly due to the green eyes. But I will implement this idea no matter what**

 **Look2019: Glad to hear that you like the Omakes.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers: JVMMM**

 **Notes: I know that some of you may not be happy that I am pushing back the actual plot of the story but tis the season to get spooky. Also, it took longer to write this because I wanted to test out my abilities in writing a fight scene, and I kinda got carried away.**

Halloween Special

 **"** Twas the night before Hunterween and all through the school, not a student was stirring. Not even the cast." spoke a disembodied voice. Said voice stopped reading from the poem and spoke in a plain voice, "You dear reader might wonder why I am making a Christmas joke. My only answer is that the Nightmare before Christmas joke did not work for this special." Skittering and clicking could be heard from the air ducts of the school, a servo-skull designated as Claudio 377 could be seen moving through the grates of the ventilation shaft. "Allow me to implant knowledge unto this blessed machine to get the plot going."

The Magos Dominus received a file from his personal servo-skull that was labeled important. He pondered on what it could have found as he opened the file. Ah, there is a special holiday celebrated on Remnant that starts tomorrow. It appears that it is expected that most of the populous will attend in the activities of masquerading while acquiring sweets. Pugnus forwarded the file to his fellow tech-priest with a simple order. 'Be prepared.'

The sun shone on Beacon Academy, the students started to awaken from their slumber as they headed off to class. Ozpin - who was already up - sat alone in his silent office watching the security cameras. Students could wear their costumes instead of the school uniform - to which many rejoiced - and he wanted to see what his beloved students were wearing. After all there was a betting ring within the teachers of the school of what the most popular costume would be. The headmaster began to scan the crowds for students dressed as a knight, but before he reached eight a group of people on the air pads caught his attention. Five people dressed as robots.

The first robot was from a Remnant movie that was twenty years old now, the Iron Giant to be specific. Next was the Terminator from another old and still ongoing series of the same name. This was the first robot that Ozpin did not recognize, probably because it had the markings of the Adeptus Mechanicus, it had a cannon on its right arm with a chainsaw on the left. The costume reminded him of Atlesian Paladins but a voice in the back of his head told him that it was stronger. Besides the not-Paladin was another Imperial robot costume, but this one had no symbols of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The costume was pure crimson and was of a bulky humanoid build, the left hand was encased in a metal boxing glove and the right held a double-barreled machine gun - but the caliber was that of his coffee mug. Ozpin recognized the final costume due to it resembling the war machines used by the adeptus mechanicus, a Kastelan Robot if he recalled correctly. This was going to be an interesting holiday.

An Atlesian bullhead landed behind the five Metalicans, Ira turned around as the ramp lowered to reveal Ironwood with a crimson tech-priest at his side. But before she could recognize which forge he hails from, the Dominus noticed the _three green_ augmented eyes. **"HERETEK!"** bellowed Ferrum as it switched her costume - the Iron Giant - into combat mode. Her fellow tech-priest turned around with their weapons primed at the red tech-priest cowering behind the General who had his hand ready on his pistol.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding here. The person you called 'heretic' is one of Atlas' highly accomplished scientists who wanted to dress up as a… _tech-priest_ for Hunterween." Ironwood spat out the title 'tech-priest' as if it were an insult, but the Metalicans lowered their weapons to the end of the ramp.

The crimson tech-priest presented himself upright as he greeted them, "It is nice to meet you, I am Doctor Polendina. You might remember me from the trial of Pen-" Precision - in the Blood Angel Terminator costume - raised his storm bolter on instinct only to have Eights - in the House Raven Imperial Knight costume - to smack Precision's head with his reaper chainsword. "As I was saying before being rudely interrupted. You might remember me from the trial of Penny. I myself am interested in the Adeptus Mechanicus, so I planned to dress as a tech-priest. I chose to dress as one from Graia - which was by random choice - so I ask you; why am I a heretic?"

"Green eyes bad." sputtered out Quin in the Remnant Terminator costume. Doctor Polendina gave a confused stare before it was explained. "A heretek, h-e-r-e-t-e-k not h-e-r-e-t-i-c, is the classification of tech-priest who cast aside the rules of the Cult Mechanicus. They can be commonly spotted by their odd number of green ocular augments."

Cyber - in the Kastelan costume - commented, "So in simplified words; 'Green eyes bad.'"

Ironwood rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is there a difference between heretic and heretek?"

"Yes, one is for the Imperial Creed and the other is for the Cult Mechanicus. Is it really that hard?" berated Precision.

The General ignored the jab and shoved the Doctor off the airship, the VTOL craft proceeded to return back to the fleet as the crimson tech-priest yelled, "You forgot to give me my bags! Come back!" Polendina lowered his head in defeat as daunting shadows appeared from behind him. He turned around to see five Kastelan robots looming over him, their hands clasping over the other and hanging at the bottom of their torso. The Doctor spotted at least sixty Skitarii arranged in groups of three covering the air pads. "Where did they all come from?"

Dominus Ferrum ignored his question, "They are here to help us…I believe the phrase you feudals use is _trick or treat_. We are going to raid Beacon for all of the glucose infused objects it has by force!"

The crimson tech-priest had one simple question. "You know you can just ask politely for candy."

"There is no kill like overkill," commented Dominus Decium. Polendina swore he heard the Windows XP shutdown sound as the person dressed as a Kastelan Robot collapsed onto the ground. "Ah it appears that the Chloral Hydrate worked. Eights, Cyber is now out cold. Bring out the throne." By his command, a Kastelan Robot marched to the front of the formation. On the special robot's chest was a giant baby carrier, the two Enginseer took five minutes to lift the knocked out datasmith into the contraption.

Ozpin spat out his coffee when he saw a 14 foot tall robot, with a tech-priest strapped on his chest in a baby carrier, smashed the wooden doors of his school into splinters. "Wha-" Before he could finish his sentence, the _entire_ Skitarii on this planet breached into the hallways with their weapons raised. "-t the fuck!"

Team RWBY and JNPR sat in the stands of the combat class as two random students were sparing while in their costumes. The lights were off except for the ones enlightening the stage. Ruby and Yang dressed as their inspirations, Qrow and Tai respectively. Weiss was a princess, but once Jaune found out he made a knight costume. Pyrrha hide her anger under the helmet of her hoplite costume. Nora took her inspiration from the comic book which resulted in a ginger Thor, and she forced her partner into a Loki costume. Blake did not have time to pick a proper costume, so she was a ninja. Glynda oddly supported the idea of having the students wear costumes on the claim that, _'It allows students to learn how to fight in a uniform not designed for combat.'_ But her in a witch costume said otherwise.

A loud banging from the door brought the students attention away from the fight. But before anyone could reach answer, the door flew off its hinges and into one of the sparing students. Three pairs of electric blue eyes could be seen piercing through the darkness. Three Skitarii walked into the classroom with their guns raised, the lead one carried a used wool bag. "Put the candy in the bag. You have ten seconds to comply."

The entire class room was silent out of confusion, while the Skitarii kept their distance. "A-are they trick or treating?" questioned Weiss.

"Five seconds left before extensive force is required!" warned the lead Skitarii.

The Professor glared at them. "We do not have any candy. Now I _suggest_ you leave before you disrupt my class more than necessary."

The lead Skitarii turned to his contingent. +Observation: A students is armed, the teacher is threatening of retaliation due to our presence, and there are no sugary products in our possession. Conclusion: This situation is within our rules of engagement, proceed to use lethal force.+ Due to the feudals only speaking low gothic, they have no idea what was happening before it was too late. "TRICK OR TREAT!" bellowed the three Skitarii as they opened fire upon the students with their galvanic rifles.

Ozpin eyes widened as we watched the scene unfold on the cameras, his school was being raided for candy. Not for the relic or the fall maiden powers, but for _candy_. The headmaster sighed as he pulled out his scroll, a contact appeared on the screen labeled 'Tinman'. "This is going to be…difficult to explain."

Team RWBY and team JNPR were quick enough on their feet to hit the ground behind the chairs as a form of light cover. "Why is a girl screaming so loudly?" complained Yang as she covered her ears, Jaune quickly apologized by silencing himself.

"We just can't hide here all day, we have to do something!" yelled the Heiress over the roar of the rifles.

Her team leader nodded to herself before preaching, "You're right Weiss. We can't let them come in here to ruin our class and trash this school. We need to fight back, which we can't do that without our weapons. Blake, you can use your semblance to get to the girl's locker rooms. Grab as many weapons as possible. Ren, with your super sneaky stealthiness will enter the boy's locker rooms. The rest of us will distract them. But remember, we can't allow them to ruin our Hunterseve. And most importantly we can't allow them to take our candy!" Ruby stood up on her feet with a fist raised in the air in a heroic pose. But a bolt from a galvanic rifle brought her back down to earth.

"Why don't we call our rocket lockers to us with our scrolls?" stated Jaune as everyone turned to stare at him. The blonde boy in question patted down his pockets in search of the device. "On second thought Ruby's plan is better."

Blake leapt out of cover and bolted to the locker rooms. A trio of galvanic rifle rounds slammed into her. Instead of the expected scream of pain, it was like breaking glass. The shadow clone shattered as the rest of team RWBY and JNPR sprang out of cover with chairs at the ready. The lead Skitarii ignored they six students as he aimed at the faunus and Ren already at the door to the locker rooms, that was when the torrent of seating devices started. The soldier of the Omnissiah could do little against the unrelenting wrath that was loosed upon them. Blake and Ren soon exited the locker rooms with all the weapons to witness their teammates giving each other high fives around the pile of chairs. But her faunus ears picked up a final binary sentence from the bottom of the scrap pile.

Dominus Ferrum was walking around the school with Enginseer Eights in tow. They were acting as a quick reaction force to assist the Skitarii triplets. So far, they have subdued nine classrooms, two by lethal force and seven surrendered. The only casualties on both sides were three injured Skitarii and eight students knocked out. Unfortunately, they have not collected any candy yet, but there were still more rooms to secure. Ira and Eights received a ping through the noosphere, +Combat classroom has heavy resistance, reinforcements requested.+ The Enginseer did not need to be told to order the Kastelans squads to their position. The Dominus on the other hand began to pray litanies to her eradication ray.

Cyber awoke to find himself in a peculiar position. He was suspended in midair, specifically in a fabric pouch that was strapped onto a Kastelan with duct tape. Said Kastelan was currently wrestling with an Atlesian Paladin. The datasmith used the weapons in his costume, miniature heavy phosphor blasters, to pepper the cockpit opposing mech. The phosphex slowly melted the steel before reaching the pilot who ejected from the machine to save his hide. With the threat neutralized Cyber turned to the next matter. +Kastelan, what is your designation?+

+Mr. Bones,+ reported the automaton

Cyber made a mental note to pistol whip who made that name. +Mr. Bones, put me down.+

+The ride never ends.+ was the only response from the Kastelan. The datasmith turned his head to see that the robot's head was painted to appear as a human skull and a tiny top hat was placed on top. Before Cyber could argue further, a squad of Atlesian Knights rounded the corner. Mr. Bones' incendine combustor came to life in a flowing stream of holy fire. The primitive robots of Atlas melted in front of the might of the Legio Cybernetica. "The ride never ends," commented the Kastelan robot as it began to move again on its own.

Eights spotted the remains of the door to the combat classroom, it appears that the Skitarii were not subtle in their approach. The Enginseer slowly peeked his head around the corner to survey the room. He spotted a rudimentary defensive position made from desks and chairs which was being manned by the students who all had his weapons, and then he saw the crimson sniper rifle owned by Ruby Rose pointed directly at the doorway, but more importantly at him. A feudal bullet pinged off the top of Eights' head. "GIVE ME CANDY OR GIVE ME DEATH!" yelled the person responsible for the assault from the safety of their fortifications.

Ira watched as the Enginseer slumped down the wall, the hood of his cloak was torn, and blood was turning the pure white into a dark crimson. It appears that the ballistics round hit one of the few areas of flesh that Eights still has, how unfortunate. The wounded tech-priest gave a report to his superior. +The rebels have a lightly fortified position in the center of the room. All students there are armed and hostile, negotiations are futile. Damage report: skull fractured in one place. I will be unconscious within three minutes due to blood loss. Chance of death is 43.38%. Repairing to wound will decrease chance of death by 21.91%. Glory to the Omnissiah.+

+Glory to the Omnissiah,+ responded the Dominus. Ferrum walked to the side of the door while setting her vox to the highest volume. **"Students of Beacon Academy, you are in possession of glucose that we require. Resistance is pointless and will only result in the hospitals being filled. This is your first and final warning, trick or treat."**

"The hospital will only be filled with you guys! Long live the resistance!" shouted an unknown student.

"You have chosen trick," warned Ira as she started formulating a plan for breaching the room. Groups of Skitarii began to move towards the only point of resistance in the school; while Ozpin's office is also defying the rule of the Adeptus Mechanicus Pugnus deduced that an old man would not have any candy unless he was a pedophile, and it is highly unlikely that the headmaster of this school is one. The plan was that the three plasma calivers will breach holes into the walls of the classroom, galvanic rifles and radium carbines will suppress the fortifications as the six arc rifles will destroy their cover, and anyone who pokes their head out will be eliminated by the three transuranic arquebus.

Ruby sat at the middle of their defensives with her baby pointed at the door, the team leader was unsettled when she shot the tech-priest but the reminder that her candy is on the line steeled her will. All the students could hear the movement of metal feet from the hallway; they did not need to be a mathematician to figure out that they are outnumbered. Jaune's calm reassuring voice broke the monotonous droning of footsteps. "Don't worry guys, we got this. As long as we stay behind this cover, we will be safe." His words did little to strengthen their courage, this entire resistance was started out of an illogical whim. But then the feet stopped moving. Leaving the classroom in complete silence except for the soft breeze from the ventilation.

Then the room was filled with a blasting crescendo, accompanied by three breaches through the walls. Skitarii poured through the holes in a human wave as ears were ringing, team leader attempted to give orders, but they were ignored as the chaos swelled. Cardin Winchester stood above the table ramparts to rally the students forward, his chest plate received a fist sized hole as the brute crashed upon his teammates below him. The loud clunk of his chest piece hitting the floor shook the students out of their shock. They returned organized fire upon the brazen Skitarii with no cover. It is simple to say that the stir-crazy student with the LMG was having a fun time. Slowly the adeptus mechanicus was being pushed out of the classroom, but at the cost of students getting picked slowly by hostile snipers and their fort being slowly demolished. "SWEETS FOR THE SUGAR GOD!" bellowed Ruby as she led the charge out of the fort and into the hallway.

The Adeptus Mechanicus countered with their own war cry. **"The ride never ends!"** Six Kastelans breached through the remaining bits of the walls with Mr. Bones carrying Cyber at the front. Their incendine combustor roared to life, but trained usage of water dust from Weiss extinguished the flame. By there is little her tricks could do against their fists shattered ribs and spines.

Cyber, who wanted to be anywhere besides where he currently is, screamed for salvation as the Kastelans waded into the melee. "Put me down. Please! Get us out of here! I am in danger you brainless automaton! I want to get off Mr. Bones' wild ride!"

 **"THE RIDE NEVER ENDS!"** stated the hollow voice of the machine as it crushed a student under its foot.

"RETREAT TO THE KEEP!" screamed Jaune over the clashes of metal. His partner gave him a weird glance before he corrected himself. "Uh… I MEANT TOWER NOT KEEP." Ruby used her semblance to warp into the hallway. Weiss used her glyphs as platforms as she went over a Kastelan trying to grab her. Yang propelled herself out of the melee with a fiery shotgun blast. A shadow clone of Blake distracted an automaton long enough for her to escape. Jaune and Pyrrha connected their shields as Nora stood behind them knocking anything that approached them back with her grenade launcher in one hand and Ren's wrist in the other.

+Can't you tin cans stop a handful of unaugmented juveniles?!+ complained Ira as she watched the battle for the combat classroom drag out. Her disappoint spiked to disgust as she spotted team RWBY and JNPR running down the hallways.

The Magos Dominus slowly walked from the landing pads to the remains of the doors. His cane tapping against the stone pathway in a mechanical rhythm. A squad of Atlesians Soldiers spotted him and started to approach with their weapons at the ready. "Halt, no civilians are allowed to pass this point under order of General Ironwood."

"That _child_ holds no authority over me," stated Pugnus as did not stop his stride. A fleshly hand grabbed his shoulder and attempted to turn him around, you try moving two tons of steel with one hand. The rest of the squad raised their weapons at the tech-priest.

The squad leader warned, "Sir, you will be detained if you continue."

Pugnus turned to face the firing line, his mechanical blue eyes staring at each of them. "You can try."

A second squad of soldier exited from the doors, and together they formed a circle around the Magos Dominus. "Surrender, you are surrounded."

The tech-priest's eyes switched to a crimson red. "Only by fear and dead men." His robes parted as a hive of mechadendrites revealed themselves. With an unnatural speed, Pugnus leapt into the group of soldiers. The metal snake like attachments went into a frenzy of blood lust. Throats were pierced, eyes were stabbed, weapons were bludgeoned, and skulls caved in. While the actual hands of the tech-priest stayed in a relaxed position with the cane still tapping on the floor. Primitive small-arms unloaded magazine after magazine into the tech-priest, but his refractor field generator flashed as the bullets fell onto the ground. Pugnus continued his rampage until the last soldier fell unto the corpses of his comrades. "How useless," commented the tech-priest as his eyes turned to the standard electric blue with the hive of mechadendrite hiding away under his robes.

Ozpin heard a knocking from the stairwell door, he kept the elevator locked at his office if a quick escape is needed. "Hello anyone in here?" The voice was that of one of his students, young Miss Rose if he is correct. The headmaster walked over to the door with a bowl of candy ready.

The door opened as he greeted them, "I believe you were supposed to say trick or treat." The winded forms of team RWBY and JNPR stared at him in disbelief.

"Your school is being _invaded_ by robots looking for candy while you have just been sitting up here with a bowl full of candy," stated Weiss with disappointment thick in her voice.

Ozpin smiled as he explained "I view this as a training session on how to deal with unexpected threats. After all you are still in combat class."

"THIS WAS PLANNED!" screamed Yang as her eyes went to a crimson red.

"No, but I will not waste an opportunity when it arises. What type of candy would you like?" countered Ozpin. The question was enough to confuse the blonde bombshell out of her rage. The eight students entered his office with the door closing behind them. The headmaster shifted his gaze unto the security cameras and noticed a trio of white robed tech-priests approaching the tower. "Ah, it appears that you were followed."

Doctor Polendina was forgotten by the other tech-priests as they left to clear out the school, and the Atlesian soldiers and knights walked past him without any recognition of his presence. The heretek was close to believing that he accidentally activated some form of invisibility whether by semblance or by technology. So, the Atlesian scientist continued to stroll the halls of the school while appreciating being able to discard his disguise and wear his _true_ skin. Down the hallway he spotted a group of teachers walking around calmly. What a peculiar sight, everyone here was supposed to be arrested by the Adeptus Mechanicus. "Hey! How did you not get put into custody by the toaster?"

"We just told them that Ozpin stole all of our candy," commented Doctor Oobleck. As the tech-priest joined the group to continue walking around the hallways.

Dominus Ferrum marched up the endless flights of stairs with Precision and Decium following behind her. +Breach in 5 seconds.+ Quin aimed his volkite blaster at the door. +4 seconds.+ Precision shifted his grip on the omnissian axe. +3 seconds.+ Ira's eradication ray hummed to life. +2 seconds.+ The enginseer started to mutter a prayer. +1 second.+ A phosphor serpenta under command of Decium aimed at the door. +Breach.+

A sphere of phosphex burned the door down to announce their arrival. "TRICK OR TREAT!" yelled the tech-priest in unison. Dominus Ferrum was the first through the breach, her eradication ray erased the laughable defensives they have set up. Yang cocked her Ember Celica to make sure it had a rough before counter charging Ira. Precision was seconds to enter with his las-pistol barking, forcing Jaune to hide behind his shield. Pyrrha tossed Akouo at the enginseer before charging after it. Quin, being the most reserved out of the three tech-priest, stayed back and fired his volkite blaster at the crimson team leader. He stopped his volleys when he heard someone sneaking behind him.

Mechadendrites came out of Ira's robes as she engaged in melee with the blonde bombshell. The student's style of fighting is a highly aggressive boxer form, highly predictable and easily countered. Metal snakes countered Yang's punches in a steady rhythm, Ira's axe swung for her legs forcing her opponent to step back. A warning came to the Dominus' display, a high-speed projectile was approaching her. The eradication ray hummed to life before firing at the fast ginger, removing a hefty chunk of her aura. Nora shifted Magnhild into a grenade launcher and started to fire at the tech-priest. Her refractor field came to life to stop the explosives from harming her, leaving her alone in a cloud of smoke. Ira turned her vision to heat detection, two forms were approaching her. But before she could act, a metal rapier pierced through her left shoulder.

Precision had the wind knocked out of him when the feudal shields slammed into his guts, but due to his weight he did not budge. The Enginseer was beset by the Mistralian champion, with an insignificant threat in her crush. His eyes switched to red as the two swords clashed onto the shaft of the axe. Both students could hear the signature whir of a mechanical joint moving, but before they could notice which limb was moving a servo-arm smashed Jaune's knuckles. Crocea Mors clattered on the ground as not free but of the axe slammed into Pyrrha's shield. Precision stared into the vivid green eyes of his enemy as she remained in a defensive position. _'How peculiar, her fighting style benefits from mobility which is also a flaw of mine. It is illogical for her to not move, unless…she is planning something!'_ The redhead stated, "Now!"A longsword was going to slice into his back, but the servo-skull barely caught it and was now straining under the pressure.

A sickle wrapped around the volkite blaster, as Ren started to unload magazines from his duel pistols into his side. Quin does not appreciate having his freshly cleaned robs torn by a worthless juvenile primitive. But he is a tech-priest controlled by logic and not emotions. "I will give you one last chance to surrender."

"Yes, and we will all share the candy evenly," deadpanned Blake as she tightened the offending ribbon around his blessed weapon. His phosphor serpenta sprang out of his robes and fired. Both students activated their aura thinking they were going to be shot, but the Faunus was surprised to find that her weapons was currently half melted and the equivalent of scrap metal. The Dominus did not waste precious time gawking at the unorthodox target, instead he dove upon Ren with and calculated strikes. While Decium is not proficient in close quarter combat, the student would not expect this course of action. The puny sickle blades equipped on Storm Flower (I know it should be one word but that just looks weird) could do little to stop a two-handed axe wanting to bisect Ren in half.

The smoke started to dissipate, exposing Ira to the sight of Weiss, Nora, and Yang. A soft humming noise emitted from Ferrum. The tech-priest was motionless as it glanced upon the wound, blood was slowly staining her robes a lucid crimson. Weiss noticed the humming noise raising from a whisper to that of someone talking. The cold mechanical eyes turned their focus at the Heiress who prepared multiple glyphs while standing in a dueling stance. The humming reached its peak, electric blue eyes turned to a bloodlust rust. "DIE YOU IMPUDENT BITCH!" Snow white glyphs could do little to stop a fully charged salvo from the eradication ray at that short of a range, but they did save their summoner's aura shattering in one hit. Nora and Yang charge the Dominus at the same time for revenge and to allow their friend to recover respectively. Unlike last time, Ira forgone the idea of countering for formulating a plan. _'Blood needed to be spilled in the Omnissiah's name, kill, blood, vengeance, kill blood vengeance, kill-blood-vengeance.'_ **+BY BLOOD WE PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH!+** bellowed Ferrum as the rage took over her, but to her targets of hate they just heard a high pitched binaric screech.

The battle cry of the female Dominus informed Precision all he needed to know what was happening to his comrades. _'Cogitator: Divert power from auditory and odor sensors and into the servo-arm. Glory to the Omnissiah.'_ Jaune watched on in horror as the heirloom of his family was slowly being bent to a ninety-degree angle by the mechanical arm, and even with all his strength he could not free his weapon. Pyrrha pushed out her shield, throwing the axe out of the defensive position, allowing a clear stab into the gut of the tech-priest. The Enginseer screamed in pain as Milo was pulled out of his gut with a new red coating. _'No time to repair the wound or stop the blee…desperate times call for desperate measures. May the Omnissiah forgive me.'_ Precision grabbed his las-pistol and aimed it at his own stomach before firing.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT A WEAPON!" screamed a rose red blur as it slammed into Quin and saved Ren. The Dominus and Ruby were both prone on the ground with the student on top.

"A THOUSAND APOLOGIZE TO THE MACHINE SPIRIT I HAVE SLAIN TODAY, BUT THAT SACRIFICE WAS NEED FOR VICTORY TODAY!" countered Decium as he attempted to free himself. Which should have been easier if an enraged nimble teen was not always shifting her weight so that she could not be thrown off with minimal effort. He noticed Ren in the background reload his weapons and taking a breather, the tech-priest knew that his time in this fight was short and his options were being cut in half every second he stayed prone. That was until a devilish idea formed in his cogitators. "SIMILAR TO THIS SACRIFICE." In a tight embrace, the young team leader was dragged along with the Dominus as he rolled off the edge of the stairwell down the center. Both plummeting to their unfortunate and untimely demise.

The expected smooth hive of mechadendrites descended into a mess of merciless strikes. Both Nora and Yang had to keep their aura active or risk a puncture to the throat or a pierce to a major artery, because their weapons were not effective in blocking the endless tentacles of mechanical hatred. The ginger and blonde circled the tech-priest as they launched heavy blows in quick succession. A left hook to the head, a shaft thrust to the stomach, a right haymaker, and a hammer swing to the knee caps. Ira's bionics overclocked to keep the tech-priest standing as she descended further in rage. + **HOLD!** \+ Her omnissian axe brushed past Nora as she slid under the swing. + **THE FRAK!** \+ Her fist went wide when trying to grab the blonde bombshell. + **STILL!** \+ Ira was gifted a passing grace by the Omnissiah when one of her mechadendrites tripped the ginger. Nora felt a cold steel muzzle of a gun jam into her back. + **DIE!** \+ The eradication ray unleashed a full load of fury into the feudal.

Precision was not pleased to admit that he was having trouble handling the feudal hoplite. She kept shifting her weapon so that her fighting style did not stay the same long enough to be countered. _'She did freeze up when I shot myself, it may have been for only a split second, but it was enough to potentially provide an opening. Now how can I repeat that reaction?'_ The Enginseer's bionics automatically overclocked when he reached less than fifty percent efficiency in his fighting capabilities. He had to end this soon or be dead by tomorrow. Precision dashed backward from Pyrrha and raised his axe with both of his hands behind his back in a highly telegraphed swing. "End of the line champion." The omnissian axe was chucked into the exposed metal beams above the Mistralian, causing then to shudder and break. An unknown amount of metal crashed upon his opponent, but if he had to guess it was at least two tones. But instead of turning into a scrapheap of iron and blood underneath, the debris started to rise above the ground and started spinning. Pyrrha stood at the epicenter of the vortex with her aura flaring. +So, this is your semblance. How peculiar,+ commented Precision as he unholstered his las-pistol and fired at the redhead, breaking her concentration. And resulting in her being crushed.

Ira stepped over the ginger as she approached the blonde bombshell. Ten meters apart. Yang's hair had a fiery aura around it with her crimson eyes matching the Dominus' own. Nine meters apart. The student started to take steps closer to the tech-priest. "Oh? You're approaching me?" Eight meters apart.

"I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer," growled the brawler. Seven meters apart. Precision watched the encounter from the other side of the room, and even with his emotional inhibitors he shuddered at the vast amount of menace radiating from the two of them. Six meters apart. Ira allowed her axe to fall out of her grip and clatter onto the floor. Five meters apart.

"Oh ho! Then come as close as you like," responded the tech-priest with venom intertwined in her voice. Four meters apart. Yang raised her fist and charged the Dominus with a wide hook prepared. A mechadendrite blocked the telegraphed punch as a purely metal leg slammed into the brawler's shin. "Too slow, too slow! You fleshbags can't compare to the greatness of I, Ira Ferrum! I used to wish to test how superior I, Ira Ferrum, am but it appears that test is hardly necessary."

Yang grinned as she countered, "Test? Is that what you call just tapping my aura, and not even enough to hurt?"

"Why are you primitives so stubborn about admitting defeat?" questioned the tech-priest to no one in particular. A huffed emitted from her vox before she continued talking, "I shall arise to your juvenile provocations and finish this test with your head on a stake." Metal fists clashed with aura amplified punches, neither were holding back anything. Servo joints pushed to their limits, and muscles worked to the breaking point. Their knuckles kept meeting over, and over again. Steel was slightly dented, and knuckles started to bleed. "Resistance is useless USELESS **USELESS!** "A singular mechadendrite pierced through Yang's stomach. But her defiance was not in vain, for Weiss was able to trap the bloodthirsty Dominus in a pillar of ice.

Weiss glanced around the rubble that was left of the headmaster's office. Ren was her only ally that she could see still on their own feet, and there was the Enginseer by himself next to the hopefully unconscious form of Jaune. "Surrender and you will get to live in the hospital for the next month." offered the Heiress as she prepared herself for combat again. Precision only responded by readying his axe and pistol into an aggressive position, due to the power coursing to his vox being shut off to keep himself standing. With an upward swing of her rapier, a wave of fire consumed the hostile tech-priest. His robes were ablaze as he stumbled around the room trying to extinguish himself. While a machine would only face minor damage by a flame, there were still flesh parts that Precision still had, and his organic nerves were alive with only one message. Pain. Ren watched the execution in silence as the Enginseer emitted binaric screeches, which he could assume were screams of pain. And in his mad stumbling he reached the window overlooking the entire city of Vale before crashing through the weak glass.

Pugnus approached Beacon Tower slowly, but he stopped before the corpse of a random Enginseer almost landed on top of him. +It appears that I will have to reach the office faster than calculated. And now must to conscript more tech-priests to fill the newly empty spots. The pesky primitives will be punished for this.+

Weiss and Ren started to gather the unconscious and dead members of their teams together. The pair took a moment to weep for the loss of Pyrrha, Nora, Yang, and Ruby before working on treating the others. Ren's hand shook Weiss' shoulder, pulling her away from Blake. "What is it!" she hissed in anger.

The Mistralian stated, "The elevator is going down to the ground floor." His words were true, but the Atlesian noticed something different. The number on which floor it was on was decreasing faster than the elevator should be able to go. Something was wrong. Ren and Weiss crouched on opposite sides of the door as they prepared to skewer who ever would exit when it the doors open again. After a silent minute the numbers started to increase again at the same speed. Both students held their breath as the doors opened, a rapier thrust on instinct into the passenger of the machine, only to find that it is empty. Ren whipped his brow before heading to the windows. He turned his back to the city of Vale to face the Heiress. "Thank Oum it was only nothing."

The Schnee sighed as she relaxed. But before she could say anything in reply, she saw the upside-down head of a tech-priest behind Ren. A mechadendrite broke through the window and pulled the boy outside to share a similar fate to Precision. "Such weaklings," remarked the Magos Dominus as he entered the office. His cane moving Nora's hand out of his way so that he would not defile his feet to step on the weak flesh. Weiss readied Myrtenaster for combat. "Opposing me will only guarantee that you will die like a dog." The student did not budge in her stance. "Alright…allow me to provide you with the most vicious death I can offer!"

His eradication ray came to life as Pugnus charged Weiss. A myriad of glyphs with unknown purposes surrounded the upstart as he drew closer. The beam fired from the heavy weapon broke the glyphs in his way as he entered melee with the Atlesian. His mechadendrites worked in an overdriven state to swat the rapier away from his vital points, while his axe swung low to keep the insect in front of him off balance. Weiss continued to create more and more glyphs as platforms for movement and to block the ruthless onslaught, but the Magos Dominus was trained on her and did not stop. His eyes switched to a crimson red as he finally managed to trip the Heiress with his axe. With a thrust of his mechanical legs, he landed on top of his opponent. Almost crushing her rib cage in the process. "You thought you stood a chance? You utter fool!"

Pugnus bent forward to grab the sides of Weiss' head with his two adamantine arms. "Behold the oblivion of death!" The palms of his hands slowly closed the distance between each other as the screams of mercy from the Atlesian was music upon his augmented ears. Eventually her eyes popped out of their sockets and landed on the floor, the mushy remains of her brain followed afterward. The Magos Dominus left the remains of all the corpses alone as he took the bowl of candy on the headmaster's desk back to his fleet. Today was a pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless.

 **Ideas: Thanks to Tssseppanen for the heretek idea, sorry I could not do Kelbor-Hal but it has the same essences.**

 **DISCLAIMER: This chapter is NOT canon to the story.**

 **Afterword: What do you guys think about the last fight scene?**


	32. Chapter 26

**Reviews:**

 **Gabe2000: I am glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. I would love to take you delicious treats, but I already have two bags full of treats for trick or treaters who did not come to my forge. Maybe it was the blood covered servitors that scared them away, but who knows. So, I will sadly decline.**

 **Janne Rolfe Jalandoni: While the losses were high, the reward was worth it. I am pleased that you found the chapter entertaining. All the chapters I create will hopefully be worthy for the Omnissiah.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers: JVMMM**

 **Notes: Welcome back to plot of the story; I know that this chapter is under my 3k word standard, getting flashbacks to my first few chapters, and that is really irking me. But I posted this shorter chapter as to get it out before I leave to visit family for the holidays.**

Chapter Twenty-Six: Eyes in Many Places

It was a week after the convoy mission, FOB Wraith was finished in construction. The entire battalion was living inside the base, and now everyday a pair of Valkyries would land on the dirt landing pad to drop off supplies. Ranging from medical and spare parts, ammunition, and static heavy weapons. The FOB itself had 3 meter tall walls made from compact dirt -which came from the trenches surrounding the outside walls- and inside the walls was a ramp 1.829 meters above the ground. The trees surrounding the FOB were slowly being cut down to create a kill zone. At any point in time, there was at least two squads of Skitarii stationed on the ramparts on a constant patrol. Pugnus allowed Precision and Eights to oversee the construction of watchtowers and the heavy weapon emplacements. The gate to the FOB was controlled by the servitors with the Kataphrons stationed on the inside incase anything broke through.

But currently Pugnus had more concerned matters to focus on, the Council of Vale. The Magos Dominus started a call with the council. "Council members, I am here to talk about the safety of Vale."

"That is General Ironwood's job. _Not_ yours," berated the first councilmen.

"Councilmen, I would prefer that you see reason. The General is on Ozpin's leash, which holds him back from taking complete action. Your recent action by making him head of security allowed him to breath for the time being. But what I am concerned about is not a repeat of the Breach. Rather I am talking about an assassination attempt on the council," warned Pugnus.

The second council women asked, "How would you know about this before we did?"

The Magos Dominus carefully explained, "After the infiltration of the CCTS Tower, I took the liberty to check if any files had been tampered with. As it turns out, the traitor accessed certain files containing the location of the Council members and their families. I can only assume that the assassination attempt will happen within the month, and probably sooner than we expect."

The first councilman was still suspicious of the tech-priest. " _If_ this is even true. What do you recommend we do?"

"If Vale should lose all of their councilmembers and suffer another Breach-both of which our enemies are planning-then it would descent into anarchy. Without all of you, Vale would be nothing. I recommend you leave with your families to a village while disguised as nomads. It does not matter what you do, just inform as few people as possible. I assume that all of our means of communication have been tampered by the enemy. Remember, go into hiding before the end of the Vytal Tournament."

After Pugnus finished his warnings he ended the call, but only to start giving out orders. +Logis Nemo, I want you to monitor the locations of the councilmembers. Once they all leave Vale, enact the Caede Protocol.+

Team RWBY walked together out of the hospital into the busy streets of Vale, Tai and Zwei had left for Patch three days earlier. The dog was surprisingly unharmed by the Breach, almost like there was a higher power protecting him. Ruby pointed to the barely visible Beacon Tower far off in the distance. "To our dorms!"

"Shouldn't we meet up with team JNPR as planned?" countered Weiss. The team leader rocked on her heels while twiddling her thumbs, the crimson reaper could not bring herself to meet her partner's gaze.

Yang whispered a short message into the heiress left ear, which caused the snow queen to sigh in exasperation. Weiss relented "Fine, we will not see our friends and instead check on your-" The blonde bombshell elbowed her gut with her good arm. "Our weapons." Ruby squealed in glee as a silhouette of rose petals replaced her.

Doctor Oobleck was finally released from the hospital, but he still had to keep the cast on his foot. With the aid of a pair of crutches, the professor waddled out of the building and onto the busy streets of Vale. The sun was high in the sky, leaving no shadows created by passersby. While Bartholomew was trapped in the bed, he messaged Professor Port and organized to meet each other at the deli place they frequently visit before the Breach.

Oobleck had to stop himself from shuddering while remembering what happened. _'All of that is in the past. And we learn from the past to prevent it from repeating.'_ The words repeated over and over again in his head, like a litany for a zealot in a time of need. As the history teacher hobbled down the streets, he felt eyes glued to the back of his neck, gazed upon his weakened form, soaking in every last inch of his back. The professor snapped his head around to catch the culprit dead in his tracks. But the civilians ignored him as if he was not even there. Nobody was watching him, at least from what he could see. A rough shoulder bumped Oobleck out of his though, as a gruff voice accompanied it. "Keep moving ya bloody idiot." The teacher stammered out a response, but the buff man did not stop walking to hear him.

' _All of that is in the past. And we learn from the past to prevent it from repeating.'_ The mantra was in a constant repetition. It helped Oobleck not focus on the imaginary person stalking him. He could feel his eyes and nothing else, he is not there but his gut tells him that he is _'He is just a figment of my imagination due to what happened during the Breach, which will not repeat because next time it will be different.'_ A silky voice spoke in the dark recesses of his mind. _'What if nothing is different the second time?'_ His eyes laid upon the deli shop, with Port sitting at the window. The plump professor waved to him and gestured to the seat open seat next to him with his usual order already there. The history teacher whispered under his breath, "What is different next time is that I will have my friends supporting me."

A raven faunus slowly strolled through the streets of Vale by himself. It was rather congested due to the Vytal Festival, but that only provided him more pockets to pick. His focus flowed from person to person, his fingers from pocket to pocket. It was almost as smooth as a dance, a dance of crime if you will. The faunus knew he was not the only one moving to the tune, and he was not even the lead dancer. But that is all the better. For when the criticizers of the dance come, they will take the leader of the group away to deter the rest. _'They would be taken away like Mead-.'_ The bird froze for a second in his movements and he retracted his hands to his own pockets. _'Thinks-talks about that is a bad idea. Yes yes. Follow-obey flame wrench's orders. Yes yes. Kill-stab later. Yes yes. Steal-take now. Yes yes.'_ His hands flowed again as the rejoined the rhythm of the song of theft. Birdman was going to enjoy this year's Vytal Festival. Yes yes.

Ruby blew the dorm door off its hinges as she slammed into her bed. The teen started to hug desperately unto the unknown bundled up object as if she would never see it again. Yang, Weiss, and Blake watched on as their team leader descended into baby talk with Crescent Rose wrapped in a spare blanket. "I know she was attached to her weapon, but I never knew it was this extreme." commented the Faunus. Drool fell unto Ruby's pillow as she caressed the metal frame of her weapon. Blake questioned, "How long will she be like this?"

"Not any longer if I have any say in this," threatened Weiss as she approached her partner. The Atlesian sat beside her team leader with a gentle hand placed upon her shoulder. "Ruby, we _are_ going to meet our friends for lunch now. You _are_ going to have to leave your scythe here."

The crimson teen slowly turned her head to look at her partner in her eyes. "No." Weiss glared at her partner, Blake felt as if the temperature of the room lowered by a few degrees.

The Heiress growled, "What did you just-"

"No!" screamed the team leader in defiance as her grip on Crescent Rose increased.

The Atlesian sprang onto her feet as she argued with the child in the room. "Don't you want to meet your friends that you have not seen in a week!"

"I have not seen my baby in a week either! And dad always said that family is more important than friends!" quoted Ruby as she began to toss and turn on her bed in a show of resistance.

Yang interrupted the conversation, "Rubes, dad never said that. How about this, we all go and meet team JNPR and you can bring Crescent Rose along."

Ruby's eyes beamed with joy as she leapt out of her bed. "Great idea big sis! Let's go now!" The team leader blew past her team for the second time today leaving a mess of rose petals in her wake.

"So then stood above the pill of beowolves corpses with my blunderbuss raised to the sky. And that is how you get a grandmother's secret recipe." While most people would be put to sleep by Port's inconsistent and over exaggerated stories, Oobleck actually enjoyed them. It allowed him to practice his ability to separate fluff with the facts, a skill that is important when looking back at historical records. Also, the long stories came with the benefit of being humorous. The history teacher took a sip from his water as his friend tried to recall another story to tell. Oobleck stopped drinking but kept the glass to his lips as he felt it again. Somebody was watching him. The teacher used his peripheral vision to glance at the other guests, but they were all absorbed in their meals. Nobody was looking in his direction, but his gut said otherwise. His eyes returned to his friend how was concerned. "Bartholomew!"

Doctor Oobleck snapped out of his search as looked Peter in the eyes. "Apologizes, drifted out there for a bit. Did you say something?"

The plump professor sighed as he reclined in his seat. "You scared me there Barty, I have been trying to get your attention for a few minutes. Is something on your mind?" The professor in question on pursed his lips. Port pressed on, "You know you can tell me Barty…Whatever is going on I will do my best to help you get through it. All you have to do is just tell me what is happening."

Oobleck opened his mouth, only to close it as the words took a moment to properly form in his head. _'All of that is in the past.'_ "It's nothing Pete, just my brain still stuck in combat mode."

His friend chuckled deeply as he lightly slapped a hand on the table. "Ah, you had me worked up over you being stressed about what happened. Hehehe. You know, this reminds me of a time when I was a young and ambitious huntsman in Vacuo…" Oobleck sighed in relief as the topic changed, maybe all of his worrying was over his gut still imagining itself still in combat.

General Ironwood sat in his private office aboard his flagship stationed in Vale, while it lacked the luxury of his _actual_ flagship that was in Atlas, it made up for it in capability. In front of him was piles upon piles of paperwork ranging from the smallest of dust robberies in Vale to political maneuvers occurring by the members of the Council of Atlas. His eyes shifted across every page, scanning for any significance. The headmaster finished with a report about the Breach when he received a call on his scroll. "How well timed," comments James as he looked at the caller id. "Doctor Polendina, I will assure you that your…daughter Penney is doing perfectly fine and was not harmed in the Breach."

The ice-cold voice of the scientist came from the scroll, and for a peculiar reason there was no visual display of him. "I am wasting my precious time to talk about one of my recent projects, not to bother about my _perfect_ daughter." Ironwood could have sworn that his voice was more monotone than usual. "I have just designed a defense mechanism against the trump card of the Adeptus Mechanicus, their space fleet." The scientist allowed his words to float through the air and fill the empty room, the General opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off by Doctor Polendina. "All I require to build it is large amounts of dust. The exact amount would require a _significant_ decrease in the SDC exports."

"Give me the number Polendina," ordered the General.

A slight tutting could be heard from the other end of the scroll. "I do not trust the security of this call for that critical information, I expect the required amount transported to me before the end of the Vytal Festival." The call was ended as Ironwood stared in disbelief at his scroll, _'When did Polendina became so abrasive. The only other time this happened is when he finished the design for Penny. Something is not as it seems.'_

 **Afterword: If you did not get it from the first Pugnus scene, I skipped the week that team RWBY was stuck into the hospital. And now the Vytal Festival is upon us, which also means that other important events are coming up soon. Do you guys want the Christmas Special released between 15th-19th of December or the 12th-18th of January?**


	33. Christmas Special

**Reviews:**

 **Gabe2000: Fun fact, the forge I created for my character has a bad history with Tyranids due to being located near a lot of biomatter heavy worlds. If you guys want, I can write out the little backstory about the forge. As for what happens to the infected toaster, we will find out in the special.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers:**

 **Notes: Gonna go on hiatus again for Christmas, I will admit I had too much fun writing the Remnant: The Game scene. Since midterms are this week for me, I could not get the chapter out sooner. Enjoy this chapter until I get back, and make sure to cherish every moment you have with your family (whether that be your biological family or your family of friends). Over the holidays I will be considering what to do for the one-year anniversary of this story, any ideas will be appreciated.**

Christmas Special

It was Christmas eve and a servo-skull floated to the shoulder of a green robed tech-priest who was typing at a terminal. Its mechanical eye scanned across the document he was writing. +Query: Why does every special end in a fight?+ The Magos spared a quick glance to the servo-skull before returning to his work. +Theoretical: Specials are th-+

+Theoretical: If you continue that line of code, something unfortunate will happen to you.+ warned the tech-priest as he stared into the empty eye socket of the servo-skull. The floating head bowed to its creator before scurrying off to an unknown corner of the forge. _'Now, what to do for this Christmas Special. A nice peaceful ending or a blood bath.'_ A servitor walking into the room silently with the grace of a drunken orc war boss, Toaster glared at the machine slave to tell it to leave the premise. But his gaze slackened when he spotted the purple wrapped box in its claw. +Oh, a gift?+ A pair of mechadendrites grabbed the box gently as to not harm its compartments. +It's from Gabe2000, I should thank him for the pineapple that I regifted to Forge. Now, should I wait until Christmas to open it or use my auspex scanners to check what it is?+

The tech-priest pulled a six-sided cube out of his pocket. +One, I open it now. Two or three, I use auspex scans. Four or five I put it under the Christmas tree. Six, I put it under Forge's Christmas tree. May the Omnissiah guide me!+ The dice soared in the air with a holy grace, its arc was crafted by the Machine God himself. With a resounding clank it landed on the workbench, and it bounced one and twice before coming to a halt. +Five! The Omnissian Thrice Blessed Dice has spoken!+ The present was placed back into the hands of the servitor as it walked deeper into the forge.

Ozpin, Pugnus, Ironwood, and Ira sat at four different sides of the same table, a board game was placed between them. Remnant: The Game, to be exact. The headmaster of beacon held the Vale specific cards in his hands, the Magos Dominus inspected his Vacuo Warriors models, the General meticulously placed his air fleet models on the board, and the Dominus glared at the board from the far east of Mistral. "The King of Vale announces a military campaign against the barbarous scum of Vacuo. Pugnus, prepare you nation for war!" stated Ozpin as he stood from his chair and flamboyantly pointed at the tech-priest in question.

"Would you like to play a card to assist your pitiful army?" taunted the Magos Dominus as he held his combat dice in his hand.

"Due to my leader being present in the army, I play the card: The King Leads the Way! With this card, I increase the base morale of my units by one point and add one to all my combat dice for the first round. My six swordsmen will now hit on a 5+, while my four elites hit on a 4+. Your move Pugnus!" declared Ozpin with the ten dice already shaking in his hand.

"Unlike you pathetic Valeans, my five swordsmen do not need any cards to improve their worth. My men will hit on a 6+. Prepare to have your king die like a dog!" screamed Pugnus as he rolled his dice. The tech-priest rolled one success, while the headmaster got three successes. Pugnus removed three of his swordsmen as Ozpin downgraded one of his elites into a swordsman.

"Who is dying like a dog now Pugnus? Would your men prove craven, by fleeing to the capital to save their lives?" taunted Ozpin as he twiddled with the sack of dice in his hands.

Pugnus rolled for combat again to answer. "Now your units are without the bonus of The King Leads the Way. These men were designed to die in defense of the homeland." Pugnus earned one success while Ozpin scored two, winning him the battle.

The headmaster stated, "With my armies at the gates of your capital, I end my turn."

"And that is your major error my friend." warned Pugnus. He flips two cards that he had placed face down on the table. Desert Scavenge and Resourceful Raider. "With this first card I can draw a card from my discard pile. Which will be Sandstorm. And with the Vacuo bonus I do not have to roll for damage. Your entire army disappears beneath the sands of time, never to be seen again! And with the destruction of your army counting as a military victory, I use Resourceful Raider to add your recently played card: The King Leads the Way, into my hand! The final action of my turn is to send my army, with my leader to the Eastern Sea of Souls. On my next turn I will naval invade the City of Vale!"

The three other players sat open mouthed at the giant play that the Magos Dominus has enacted. Pugnus was confident of his maneuver until he saw the smirk upon Ironwood's face. "That was a pretty cool trick you did there, I can't contest that. But your plan is far from perfect! I shall place six of my elites into three airships, and with their aerial nature I will move into the Western Sea of Souls. You will get one round of combat to fire at my fleet, unless I use this card: Smokescreen! With this card, my enemy can't attack my airships in the first round of combat. Which by chance is the only round! Shall your trade your capital for another Pugnus? In my capital I shall muster one squadron of bullheads. I end my turn."

"I play Smugglers of Wind Path, and I will steal two cards from Ozpin's hand!" declared Ira as two mechadendrites slithered to Ozpin's side of the board. "I will also continue my rampage with Stowaway Bandits! If a bullhead squadron has been recently created in an enemy capital, one a 4+ the unit comes under my control!" With prayers to the Omnissiah under her breath, the Dominus rolled a dice. Three, a binaric curse emitted from the Mistral player. "I shall sacrifice one of my victory points to reroll the dice!"

"Dominus Ferrum, you only have one victory point left. And if you got into the negative you will lose the game. And your villages - which are worth one vp - are lightly defended." cautioned the Magos Dominus as his subordinate glared at him.

"When we truly think 'I will vp reroll' from the bottom of our hearts…by that time, the deed has already been done!" declared Ira as she rolled the dice. Five, bless the Omnissiah for guiding this dice. "While a bullhead squadron in the middle of enemy territory is worthless, it serves as the criteria for my second action! With a muster action I shall recruit the Bandit King, which earns me one victory point automatically! And I shall place a trap card face down on to finish my turn."

Ozpin hummed to himself as he thumbed through his hand. With his king dead, he lost a vp, leaving Vale at four vp total. His capital is worth three, and Ironwood could backstab him to get addition vp for landing a killing blow. "With the King of Vale dead, his humble advisor - Osbourne the Wizard - shall take his place. As his first act in office, Osbourne declares a nationwide draft!" The headmaster held up a card of the same name before continuing, "I can recruit one 1d6 worth of swordsmen, but I get an additional 1d6 for owning one capital!" A pair of dice clatter onto the table. "Seven! I can recruit seven swordsmen, and that is all I need. Five shall be placed in my capital with the last two going to Eastern Vale protecting my last village. And I shall muster two more swordsmen into Eastern Vale, Pugnus besiege Vale if you dare!"

"And I shall Osbourne the Wizard! My armies shall prove that your _miracles_ are just cheap party tricks, and you head shall be raised upon my banner! Prepare to face your doom!" bellowed Pugnus as he moved his units into Vale's capital.

"My five soldiers shall hunker down behind the walls. This is now a siege battle, which means all your units have -1 to their combat rolls!" informed the Headmaster as he rolled his five dice. Once success for Ozpin.

Pugnus raved, "Your weakling soldiers hiding behind your futile walls! Idiot! IDIOT! **IDIOT!** You utter fool! You shall fall to my blade no matter what! With The King Leads the Way, my seven swordsmen hit on a 6+ and my three elites hitting on a 5+!" Two successes were rolled. Ozpin removed two swordsmen, while Pugnus removed one of his own.

Ozpin remarked, "Because it is a siege battle, you turn in now over. Ironwood, if you would atta-"

"Hold it right there Ozpin, I can downgrade one of my elites to continue the fight! And shall add the card Onslaught, at the end of this combat round I can sacrifice as many swordsmen as I desire. For each unit killed, I roll one dice and one a 4+ I deal one damage to your army! Prepare to die you DOG!" bellowed Pugnus. Ozpin scored one success, while the tech-priest had zero. The Magos Dominus sent six swordsmen back into the box, and only rolled four successes. "THE KING OF VACUO NOW DECLARES HIMSELF EMPEROR OF SANUS! BOW BEFORE ME AND TREMBLE AT MY POWER MORTALS!"

The office door opened to a pissed Glynda Goodwitch, "Are you four again playing that children's game! The students are going to hold the Christmas ball soon and you are needed to motivate the students. I will come back here in five minutes, and by Oum if I see that board game still out, I will throw it out the window!"

The door slammed behind the professor. Ozpin and Ironwood glared at Pugnus while the Dominus muttered, " _Motivate_ the students you say?" A blocky pistol with a barrel the size of a soda can was seen in Ferrum's hands.

Team RWBY and JNPR sat in the auditorium with all the other Beacon students, transfers included. The room was filled with students who were all conversing, everyone was waiting for the headmaster to give his speech before the party could start. "What could possibly be holding Ozpin up?" asked Ruby.

Weiss guessed, "Whatever Ozpin is doing right now is highly important and professional. You just have to be more patient." The crowds started to hush as a figure walked onto the stage. It was one of the tech-priests wearing a giant red coat with a crimson pointed cap, the entire uniform was decorated with visages of human skulls. What best could be described as a square gun was in her hand.

"I was told that you needed to be motivated! So, I shall motivate you in the means of the Imperium of Man's most vaunted Imperial Guard!" yelled Dominus Ferrum. Her voice carried throughout the room. Students were confused and curious alike.

Pugnus, Ironwood, and Ozpin prepared to enter the auditorium to talk to the students. Due to their friendly game earlier, they had no time to plan what to do. The tech-priest proposed, "What if we give them toasters?"

"What, why, no. No toasters," stammered the General. The Magos Dominus started to shake in fury. James countered, "We need something that will be useful to the students, how about an extra credit essay about the military history of Remnant."

Ozpin massaged his temples. _'This is going to be a long night.'_ "How about we just-" The Headmaster began to speak, but he was cut off by the signature sound of a gunshot followed by a grenade explosion. The screams of students were soon to follow. "What the hell was that?!"

"Totally unrelated question; how expendable are your students?" pondered Pugnus as he recalled working alongside a regiment of the Astra Millitarum in his first century of living. Their commissars had a unique way of motivating the conscripts, a pathetic one of them begged to become a Skitarii to avoid the wrath of the commissariat. He was sentenced to become an Adsecularis. The newly minted tech-thrall was sent in the first wave to assault the Ork position, his fate is unknown.

"What kind of a question is that!" yelled Ozpin. While it is uncommon for the Headmaster to become furious, the combination of multiple events was not helping losing his capital, having the game end early, and an unknown person firing a gun in a room full of students.

Ira looked away from the ruined training android to see Ozpin at the door, the rage apparent in his eyes was ten times that of Professor Goodwitch. Survival Protocol Activated. "Headmaster Ozpin, how splendid it is to see you. Shall I leave the state for your speech?" Ozpin visibly relaxed, but his eyes stayed the same.

"Dominus Ferrum, would you mind telling me why I heard gunfire, grenades exploded, and _my_ students screaming?" pondered the Headmaster as he approached the stage.

"Screaming? I would call it shouts of joy and amazement at the effectiveness of the Imperium of Man's weapons. With the presentation coming from this bolt pistol rendering the Atlesian training android to scrap," explained Ira as she scanned the room for a means of escape.

Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose, " _Why_ are you firing a… _bolt pistol_?"

"Apologize if the stress from the unknown made you exasperated, _but_ …the Magos Dominus behind you would explain this better!" Dominus Ferrum pointed to the door to improve the bait. Ozpin and the rest of the students turned around to look at the closed doors where nobody was standing. The loud clang of the fire exit door opening brought the feudals to realize what happened. They have been tricked, backstabbed, and maybe even bamboozled.

At the school's landing pad Cyber had a monumental task in front of him, twelve giant Christmas hats and twelve Kastelan battle-automatons that do not want them on. +AS YOUR SUPERIOR AND THE HIGHEST-RANKING MEMBER OF THE LEGIO CYBERNETICIA ON THIS PLANET, I ORDER YOU TO HALT!+ The pack of robots decided to split up, four went inside the school, four ran towards the cliffs, and the last four stole a civilian bullhead. +OMNISSIAH FRAKKING DAMMIT!+ The datasmith pulled out a vox and screamed into the receiver, +QUIN! WHY ARE THE KASTELANS DISOBEYING ME! I KNOW THEY DO NOT LIKE WEARING HATS, THAT I UNDERSTAND. BUT WHY ARE THEY NOT LISTENING TO ME! THEY WERE PLACED UNDER MY AUTHORITY BY THE MAGOS DOMINUS HIMSELF! BY NOT FOLLOWING MY ORDERS THEY ARE NOT FOLLOWING THE WILL OF PUGNUS! THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND! IT FRAKKING PISSES ME OFF! TELL ME WHY THEY DON'T LISTEN TO ME! IT PISSES ME OFF!+

Dominus Decium left his vox on the workbench as he walked throughout the ship, _'This fleet is not in the Christmas_ _spirit, that must be fixed! I believe giving a gift to the characters that have been mentioned once or twice shall be the catalyst for total Christmasization! Is that a word? Doesn't matter because I just made it one!'_ Quin approached the main hanger; five giant machines were shrouded under tarps and alongside them were five well-dressed unaugmented humans. "Sir Morrin, Sir Fogash, Sir Markely, Sir Enck, and last but not least Baron Seizant. How nice to see you all on this fine day of Christmas."

"Kris-mes…truth be told I have never heard that word before. Would you care to give and explanation?" questioned the Baron as he stepped forward to converse with the tech-priest.

Decium stated, "It is a feudal holiday of this planet, the reason is irrelevant. But the purpose is what I care about. Today is the day when the primitives give gifts and spend time with friends and loved ones. To better assimilate with them I decided to take upon myself the Christmasization of our fleet! And for you humans I have five bottles of vodka that I requisitioned from the planet, oh and if you see Sacristan Frygan Iera tell him I will attach an extra mechadendrite to him whenever he wishes. Until I see you again, Merry Christmas!" Each Knight Pilot graciously grabbed their ration of alcohol before the Dominus was on the move again.

Dominus Ferrum ran through the halls of beacon, dodging and running over any student in her way. She had to escape before Ozpin can even think of retaliation, but where could she hide. The Headmaster already had cameras in his own school, and she would assume that he had cameras scattered throughout the city of Vale. Nowhere was safe, and nowhere to-. THUNK. Ira fell onto the ground as four large pure white machines stood in her path. _'What the hell are the Kastelans doing here?'_

Quin heard screams of pain as he approached the laboratory, but that was to be expected for his next target. +Magos Biologis Nova! I have a present for you,+ yelled the tech-priest over the moans of torture.

+I swear to the Omnissiah if it is about the Prank Pox, I will attach all the faunus tails I have unto your corpse,+ warned a monotone voice from inside the room. Decium shrugged before entering the room. At the edges of the room was the remains of corpses long since decayed, jar of unknown organs floating in liquids, and a full skeletal imitation of an abhuman with antlers. The white robe of the Magos Biologis was stained with abhuman blood as one of the captured White Fang grunts was strapped to the operating table, the xeno's chest cavity was exposed with his ribs ripped out. Quin's eyes strayed unto the pumping heart and the squirming organs as Nova continued her work.

"K-kill…meeee," the words that the test subject had muttered were barely heard over the whirring of the rotary saw mechadendrite.

The Magos Biologis stated as she approached the operating table, "Specimen, that is your fifty-fourth plea for salvation. What do you think will change? There is no escape from the Quest for Knowledge."

The near corpse of an animal spat out, "I have a name…you whore." The act of speaking was stressing on the abhuman, as was evident of the blood he coughed onto the floor.

"That primitive name is pointless here specimen. Once you provide me with something useful _then_ you will be given a name," causally reminded Nova as she turned towards her fellow tech-priest. +Whatever you wanted to tell me make it quick, I have more operations to complete.+

+In the spirit of Christmas, I have given you a present of one hundred more white fang captives. They are in the giant red and green wrapped box located at the hanger. Merry Christmas Magos Biologis Nova!+ shouted Quin as he was already halfway out of the door.

The Datasmith stood in the middle of a crowd of feudals, in his hands was a stack of pamphlets and his other held a stapler. The image on the pile of papers was a group picture of him surrounded by five Kastelan robots with the word 'Missing' in bolded red text. Cyber walked to each telephone pole and attached one of the fliers before heading to the next one and would show the pamphlets to anyone passing by. His eyes changed from a vibrant electric blue to a soft deep ocean blue. The proud tech-priest was lowered to that of dirt, as his head hung low.

In one of the many parks of Vale, stood a tall white robot which children of many species and sizes playing around it. One of the older boys was able to climb onto its shoulder, his hand was reached to the ground to help a rabbit faunus girl up. The Kastelan silently rested there, unmoving. On the other side of Vale was a makeup salon, the owner of which was teaching a group of young adults in the art of beauty. The pure white battle-automata proved a perfect canvas for blending colors. At the docks, a third robot was helping sailors carry cargo boxes to and from airships, while the machine did not accept pay the help was appreciated.

In the middle of Emerald Forest stood a rundown shack, it only occupant sat in his armchair by the warmth of the fireplace. Three loud knocks came from his door, the man grabbed his seeing stick before stumbling to the door. The door shook from the knocks thrice more. "Hold on good stranger, in my old age I am slow. But I will open my door to keep you from the grimm's wicked blow," spoke the blind huntsman. The old man opened the door and prodded the legs of his visitors, the familiar sound of metal on metal could be heard. "Ah, you are still in your armor. That is not needed here for I am a simple farmer." The retired huntsmen moved out of the doorway and gestured to his house. "Come and rest in my humble abode stranger. For in here you will find no danger." The three Kastelan robots silently marched into the house.

Dominus Ferrum stared at the three Kastelans in front of her. +Now what are you three doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Cyber?+ scold the tech-priest as if she was conversing with a child. But then an idea popped into her head. +Your timing is perfect! With you as my bodyguards I can safely get out of here. Follow me to the landing pads oh blessed automatons.+ Ira marched off by the robots did not follow, the Kastelans glanced at each other before heading deeper into the school.

Dominus Decium walking into a room filled with cogitators, a husk of a man sat staring at every screen. +Logis Nemo, how is your work going?+

The tech-priest in question turned around, his twelve eyes staring into Quin's soul. +The work that Pugnus has assigned me is menial and that of a servitor's purpose. I have to scan every message sent between the feudals, half of which make me want to hurl, and having to read the names of all Fang member slain? I converted one of my servitors to do that for me. If you see the Magos Dominus, tell him that I demand a project that is worth my time.+ The Dominus awkwardly nodded as the Logis ranted.

Decium finally recognized that Nemo was finished, +Oh, so today is Christmas. And I got you and extra servitor. Merry Christmas!+ The Dominus left the room before the Logis could retaliate.

Doctor Pollendina sat in his office, across from him was the corpse of Malleus Rubrum, and between them was a giant Christmas tree decorated with cogs and tiny machines. The voice of the traitor tech-priest was slurred. +You know…I think Toaster wasted potential in you.+ The room was silent as Verraeter listened to the corpse.

+That is a better way to phrase it…'Your path was changed'…that sounds like chaos talk. Are you possessed by a demon?+ interrogated the tech-priest. Yet still Malleus was silent, his body unmoving and his lights off. The rouge adept stepped out of his chair and knocked over his glass of whiskey as he leapt at Rubrum. +YOU BLOODY TRAITOR TO THE OMNISSIAH! I SHOULD GUT YOU AND YOU CUNT OF A BROTHER! YOU ARE JUST A BUNCH OF BUGGED CODE PLACED INSERTED IN A PILE OF RUSTED SCRAP! YOU KNOW WHAT?! I BET YOU CAN ONLY CODE IN SCRATCH!+ A thud resounded in the room as Doctor Pollendina collapsed halfway through his rant.

Team RWBY entered their dorm to find a Kastelan robot silently standing there, but before anyone of them could question it an awful idea came into Ruby's mind. The team leader zipped to the closet and came out with the ornaments and a handful of green garland. The second automaton was spotted with team CFVY, and Yatsuhasi was currently having an arm-wrestling competition with it. The last one was given a janitorial uniform and a mop by Professor Goodwitch.

Back in Emerald Forest, the three Kastelans sat on the floor next to the table that was too small for them, but the host did not notice. "I sure hope all of you are hungry. Because I finished making this soup with honey." The huntsmen poured out three servings of his stew, or at least attempted to. Due to him being blind he accidentally spilled the rather hot broth unto the Kastelans themselves. The battle automatons groaned out in pain before rushing out the door. "Wait come back, we have not gotten to the main course yet! I even finished baking a batch of fresh baguette!"

Back in Emerald Forest, the three Kastelans sat on the floor next to the table that was too small for them, but the host did not notice. "I sure hope all of you are hungry. Because I finished making this soup with honey." The huntsmen poured out three servings of his stew, or at least attempted to. Due to him being blind he accidentally spilled the rather hot broth unto the Kastelans themselves. The battle automatons groaned out in pain before rushing out the door. "Wait come back, we have not gotten to the main course yet! I just finished baking a batch of fresh baguette!"

The camera cuts unto the cast of RWBY with all the tech-priests - Cyber included - standing in front of a Kastelan dressed up as a Christmas tree. A monotone voice spoke from behind the camera, "Show your teeth when you all say the agreed upon word."

"Cheese!" shouted the entire group in unison, the camera clicked as the flash went off. Toaster smiled as he held the photo in his hand. _'This really has been a great year. I would not ask for anything else.'_ The tech-priest shook himself out of his thoughts as remembered he had one thing left to do. A Magos scuttled to the door before opening it, a Christmas tree of his own stood there with a sparse amount of presents under it.

+Merry Christmas mates. I assume you already know which ones yours are?+ asked Toaster as he moved to join the group of a tech-priest, space marine, and a singular guardsman.

A void splitter crashed through the wall, the driver's hatch popped open to reveal a Martian tech-priest. +Sorry I'm late, needed to fix the engine, now let's see what I got for Christmas.+ Forge Master Leo and Rose jumped out of the vehicle and joined the group. Forge opened his present first. +An STC for volkite weapons! I haven't seen one of these in a bit.+

Explorator00 went after the Martian. He was not as lucky with his present. +Socks?+ questioned the tech-priest. He would comment on how he never wears socks, but today is Christmas and it is no time for thoughts like that. Rose's present was the largest out of the group. A painting of her father purging a Dark Eldar world. She smiled as she remembered that day. A warp portal opened to birth a present wrapped in paper and saliva before closing.

The three tech-priest stared at each other before Forge gained the guts to approach it. With a piece of rebar, he pokes it from a safe distance. The unwelcomed present unfolded to show a TV that was streaming a vile show. The Martian tech-priest reported his finding about the present, +What the ever-loving hell is this? Slaneshmas! I can't stop watching it even though it's wrong!+ Toaster's flamer roared to life, burning the heresy out of this place.

The green robed tech-priest unwrapped his gift, his eyes laid upon the heavenly object. A toaster. He considered placing the precious objected at the center of his family's nativity, but a clicking noise caught his attention. _'Toaster aren't supposed to make sounds. Is that a…'_ +XENOS!+ The genestealer revealed itself from the present.

 **Afterword: If you love reading Warhammer stuff, go to ColdOpenStories. It is a group of fans that create FREE audiobooks about Warhammer 40k. Also, you can audition to voice act on of their characters in the multiple stories they are creating.**


	34. Chapter 27

**Reviews:**

 **Guest: I could see it being called Emperor's Day. Omnissiah's day might be better because the God-Emperor is viewed as the Omnissiah made flesh.**

 **Airsickairman: Don't worry, I will get back to the story. It is just that holidays I plan to do something special for are all right next to each other. But once we get past February, there will be no specials until October. Glad that you like the story, I know it is frustrating that the main story has been pushed back.**

 **Death Korp Commissinar: Glad that you are cool with me using Fucking Soup, other than that I am pleased that you are enjoying the story so far. And I would sooner turn traitor than stop writing this story.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 _*Speech*_ **Sounds/Background Noises**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers: JVMMM**

 **Notes: Finally back mates! Inspiration to write has been lackluster, hence why it took so long. I am going to skip over the fights that remain cannon because I do not want to write it out, but if you want to experience what the fights look like than watch the episode on youtube. Also, I may or may not have delayed the release of this chapter to land on the day of the one-year anniversary. The discord invite code if you are interested is hu5HdXn. With the announcement of the four factions in the Engine of War book (ad mech, imperial knights, chaos knights, and daemons) some new Adeptus Mechanicus have been dropped. And by the Omnissiah are fucking cool! The of skitarii on fire breathing metal horses (too lazy to check the actual name) makes me envision a wild west themed army with every skitarii with a tiny cowboy hat with the tech-priest being the sheriffs. Then there were the sicarians with wings, and one looked to be carrying a flamethrower. They were cool, and I can see great conversion done with those models.**

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Middle of the Game

At two in the morning, Jacques Schnee ended his call with General Ironwood, and he was not mad. The head of the SDC was currently raving. _'What kind of guts does it take for some…goddamn low life scientist to demand from Ironwood 50% of my…MY exported dust! 50%! That is half of my profit thrown away! This treacherous cur think that they can boss me around?! I shall end this debacle myself!'_ Jacques picked up his scroll and skimmed through his contacts, once he reached the target of his wrath, he firmly pressed the call button. "Doctor Polendina…do you mind telling me what the FUCK YOU ARE DOING! YOU CAN'T TAKE HALF OF MY…MY DUST FOR ONE OF YOUR PUNY AND WORTHLESS PROJECTS!"

The doctor was unfazed by the verbal assault, in fact he was reading a report that sat at his desk. With a heavy sigh, Polendina razed his glance towards his scroll. "General Ironwood has given me half of all your produced dust? I should have expected him to mess that up without giving him any numbers. In reality it should be around 75-80% of your dust, but since you called me at such a convenient time, I shall make it 80%. Now now old man, there is no need to get livid. For I shall subsidize all the dust I have…acquisitioned. Please turn your twitching eyes away from me and onto your monitor for your security system. You shall find that I have set it to your son's bedroom already."

For a moment Jacques was stunned. He was told that his secret security system was impenetrable, but this doctor has found out about it and had already hacked into it. The Schnee stammered, "You…what…how?"

"With the graces of technology my friend," answered Polendina as he stood up from his chair. He walked into the deeps of his lab while shouting behind his back, "Now if you look closely, you shall find a peculiar red dot resting upon the bridge of Whitley's nose. This is the result of one of my multiple snipers." The doctor's voice got covered when he started rummaging through his pile of reports. Eventually Polendina found what he was looking for and approached his scroll again. "I could care less if you think that my statements are false or true, because going against me would me that you shall find the answer and a dead heir. You could claim that your son means nothing to you but losing one of your family members to terrorist would harm your reputation as a man that makes the White Fang scurry away in fear. I shall pay you by keeping your son alive, while you keep silent about all of this. So, until next time because I have some serious work to get back to. Oh, and please do tell Ironwood about the newly arranged amount of dust."

The room went silent as the call was terminated, leaving the head of the Schnee Dust Company alone with his thoughts. Jacques's chest rose and fell to the tempo of his rage, his breathing was depth and audible. _'That Oum damn scientist! He thinks that he is getting off scot free with this attempt on my business!'_ "This is the only win you will have Polendina!" cried out the Schnee as he slammed his fist onto his desk in defiance.

The sun was rising on Beacon academy, it shining rays refracting against the polished floors and illuminating the board game. Ozpin have slanted his scroll so that Pugnus - who was on the other end of the call - could see the chess board. "Queenside castle," echoed the synthesized voice of the Magos Dominus as the Headmaster moved the pieces accordingly. Ozpin's hand glided above the board to his back ranks, his queen side rook repositioned to D8 in response. Pugnus was not even fazed by the Headmaster's increasing defensive. "My rook takes your knight on D7. Ozpin, what are your plans to defend Vale during the Vytal Festival?"

Ozpin paused in thought before answering, "The security of the Vytal Festival has been moved unto General Ironwood. I assume you heard about that in the news. My rook on D8 takes your rook on D7. Pugnus, what are your plans for security during the Vytal Festival?"

"The security of the Vytal Festival has been moved unto General Ironwood, I was passed for the promotion," commented the Magos Dominus as he gazed upon the board. His cogitators calculated all possible scenarios in a manner of seconds. "Rook to D1." Ozpin's enacted his premade plan by moving his most dangerous piece, the queen, one space forward to E6. Pugnus was about to declare his move, when an alarm on the Headmaster's scroll blared its alarm.

"Oh, it appears that the first match for the Vytal tournament is about to start. Would you care to watch it with me?" offered Ozpin to make amends to ending their game short.

Pugnus paused for less than half of a second, his augmented mind running through every possible option. "I am afraid not, Headmaster. There are…rituals that require my specific attention. Until next time Ozpin." The tech-priest ended the call with a swift flick of his mechadendrite, every machine spirit stationed in orbit was crying out for vengeance and blood. The task to pacify them for now will the most strenuous out of all missions on this primitive world, but the Magos Dominus only had to keep them at bay for so long. And the timer was ticking down, or at least the predicted time of the attack. A giant festival that the majority of the nation's citizens were watching would be the perfect target for a terrorist organization.

Birdman was strolling through the bustling streets of Vale, his pockets filled with wallets and Lien recently acquired by him. But something was scratching in the back of his mind, his instincts were telling him that someone is watching him. Faunus get this sort of six sense, similar to how a bird would notice that a fox is creeping up on it. The petty thief was alert, his hand unconsciously moved closer to his flail. The Faunus turned into the first alleyway he could find, unholstering his weapons as he reached the end of it. The familiar feel of his flail and shield calmed his nerves as he waited for his stalker to reveal themselves from the crowded streets. _*Me-yow me-yow*_. Birdman has been around animals for a long time in his life, and to his trained ears this was not a cat. Instead it was someone imitating the sound of a cat, and it was convincing at best. _*Me-yow me-yow.*_ Again, the call was sounded, the familiarity of the signal was wracking his mind. _'I know that sound. Who knew call? Who create signal with? Mead-man in jail, not him not him. Who other than mead-man?'_ Birdman glared to the roof tops, his secret siren was revealed in a flame-retardant suit. The raven faunus spoke in his watcher's voice. "Good evening, gentlemen. If you sewer rats can even be dubbed as such. It is obvious that we will be employed closely for the time being. By my honor I will tolerate your existence and uncivilized nature, after this contract is concluded we shall hopefully never see one another again."

"You could never comprehend how bizarre it is to hear your own voice replicated through another human being," stated Sir Bar as he slid down the pole. "After betraying the witch, it turns out that there were others that committed similar actions and lived to tell the tale. I have elevated through the ranks of this counter gang and now have direct connection to the boss. It was not an arduous feat, for the syndicate is filled with a majority of White Fang deserters that survived with little experience. I can commend you to the boss, and at least she will not threaten you with your life like the enchanter. Who knows if you would be welcomed, but you might even be able to free your alcoholic colleague." Brenn stuck out his covered hand to the Faunus in a gesture of brotherhood, the raven took a moment to comprehend the offer before their hands meet in a firm but not rough handshake. Flakes of his skin peeled off and floated to the ground as a smile formed on Sir Bar's face.

General Ironwood ended his call with the head of the Schnee Dust Company. A call would not describe it properly, it would be more of a one-sided rant. James contemplated returning to Atlas just to find out what the hell Polendina is doing which would require that amount of dust, but his job as head of security of the Vytal Festival bound him in Vale. If he was a religious man, he might pray for Oum for guidance or let the ends justify the means. If. The General flipped his scroll to the camera feed in the drunkard's room only to find him asleep on the cold metal floor with his back to the camera. To wake him up for questioning would be pointless, a tired prisoner is not a cooperating prisoner. But moving him to a different cell should put him out of his comfort zone, which could potentially help in questioning. Ironwood flipped to the next camera, it was team RWBY - if he remembered correctly - talking to someone. Presumably one of their friends.

"Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" questioned the green haired friend.

Ruby held a prideful face. "Well, as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision."

"We put it to a vote," corrected the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company.

The team leader stuttered and stumbled before catching herself, "Yes. Ah so, but I decided that we should put it to a vote!"

"We voted for Weiss and Ruby," stated the team member who wore a bow as she gestured to the two mentioned teammates. General Ironwood flipped to the next camera without care, just another crowd of unknown civilians acting through their normal day lives. James questioned himself why he was doing this, when he already assigned a group of his subordinates to monitor each camera. But it did serve as a nice break between the monotony of the paperwork and emails he must fill out.

Ozpin sat silently in his office as he watched team JNPR charge against team BRNZ from Shade Academy. His full and undivided attention was focused upon the match, each person upon the field under the scrutiny of his trained and experienced eye. The headmaster's gaze was broken off when he received a text from a special individual. It was Ozpin's eye in the dark, Qrow Branwen, and he was not happy about his task of translating the Adeptus Mechanicus's language. Removing everything unnecessary within the text message, it devolved down to it being a job for a scientist because the static speech is more than just binary or morse code. The language appears random at face value but there is a pattern hidden underneath, for there are always rules for any language. Until an idea formed in Ozpin's mind. _'What if what they are actually speaking is the sound of them transferring files of information to each other?'_ The headmaster entertained the idea for a brief moment before he reached a conclusion, _'No, that is illogical. Based on Pugnus's character, he is not a man who does anything unnecessary. Let's see if General Ironwood's lingustistcan solve this.'_ Ozpin ordered Qrow back to his previous mission as he proposed his idea to the Atlesian.

Dominus Ferrum stood alone in the headquarters bunker at FOB Wraith, the constant dripping of water from a leaking pipe upon the dirt floor being the only sound. The other Dominus was with Precision and Eights on a grim hunt, and the datasmith was performing the ritual maintenance on the kastelans robots. _*plop*_ The isolated tech-priest twitched in time with the drop of water colliding with the ground. Her rage subsided, as another droplet started to form. _'The Magos Dominus always has a plan, and he has not failed me yet. From the insurgents on Estaban III to the assisting House Raven against a green skin waaagh, he has not abandoned me. But now Pugnus expects me to just wait for the enemy to strike first? I am not even assigned to the extermination patrols! This is outrageous! It's unfair!'_ _*plop*_ The sound of the droplet brought the Dominus out of her rant.

Doctor Polendina watched over the construction project as it was slowly being pieced together by the construction workers. The design was a modified version of the Imperium of Man used when he abided by the unjust laws of Terra. Main feature was that all hints of gothic architecture was removed for more of a sleek and modern Atlesian theme. The door squeaked open on its rusted joins, a man with greyed hair and a slightly sullied lab coat slowly entered the room. "Doctor Polendina, everything is going according to your plan. My colleagues and I have been curious about what we are building, we are starting to wonder what the machine actually is."

The hidden tech-priest turned around to face the scientist, he had never bothered to learn his name because he was not even a footnote in his plans. Verraeter countered as he stepped closer to the inquisitive scientist, his larger height allowing the tech-priest to loom over him. "Did you pay attention when you read the brief?"

The old man took a step back, it was clear to the tech-priest that his intimidation worked. "Yes, Doctor. I did pay attention, but it is ju-"

"Then you should what we are building," interrupted Polendina as he sent an almost mechanical glare towards the curious scientist. The old man began to slowly leave the room to be stopped by Polendina's voice "Please do tell your comrades that further questions about the project that have already been answered will not be tolerated, there are others that will gladly take your current positions."

"Magos Dominus. I recognize your authority over all encounter on the planet, but do you expect me and my fellow nobles just to wait for the enemy to attack humanity before taking action?" questioned the Baron as he stood in front of the tech-priest with a map of Remnant between them. The electronic eyes of Pugnus were glued to the terrain as if all the answer to his ailments could be found there. Every potential outcome was slowly processed inside his augmented mind, scanning for the superior result. The knight pilot spoke again, "Magos Dominus, I require an answer."

The tech-priest's eyes were taken away from the game board and onto the mildly pissed noble. "Baron Siezant, you must realize that it would do more harm for us if all of our knights are deployed to the surface. It would result in a tactical victory, but not a strategic victory. Besides orbital bombardment, you are our trump card. Currently. It is like when you play poker and you show the other player your superior hand while they can still fold. Sure, you would have earned the pot, but you could have earned more. And every Throne you could have earned is another one hundred civilians saved."

The knight pilot gave Pugnus a confused glance before hardening his expression. "I am curious why a tech-priest would care about a few civilians who are not loyal to Terra or Mars."

It was clear to the Magos Dominus that this was a test, for the noble would want to save as many civilians as reasonably as possible. "The views of the civilians are the key to having a smoother annexation of this primitive world. In this game, I will win no matter what. That is certain. But I do not want to waste the lives of the servants of the Omnissiah when they could be saved."

 **Afterword: I am assuming that Ironwood does not know all members of team RWBY, except for Ruby and Weiss because he conversed with both of them. He does not know about Blake or Yang because his job does not include spying on children.**

 **Hey reader, how is it going! Toaster here! I would like to announce that this is the one-year anniversary of this story! It may be cheesy to say but all of your support in following, favoriting, pms, and/or reviewing has made me the happiest I have been while writing this story. Thank you all for reading this whether it be while I am writing this or when I am finished. Since this is the day of this story's creation, I am going to talk about my current plan for the story (it might change in the future). Basically, after this season is done, I am going to complete 2-3 more seasons. I am planning to wait for the Salem fight until Rooster Teeth does it first, unless if y'all want me to try that. Also have basic plans for another Ad Mech story after this story is done.**


	35. Chapter 28

**Reviews:**

 **Gabe2000: Okay, I will try the Salem fight when we get there. Currently thinking of a fighting style similar to an archvile summoner mix from Doom. Resurrecting grimm while she uses some sort of attack, eh that might work. Doom Eternal might present some more ideas. I did appreciate the toaster, and I have yet to find the tyranids who put the genestealer inside of it. Do you perhaps know where the culprit might be found? They almost cost me two toasters, and I want them to get in touch with my eradication ray.**

 **webzayne717(chapter one): It is almost like I never used internal speech in the first chapter, and used '' when I actually did it. I understand why you do not like me using - for Lingua-Technis, but I did state it like you recommend me to do in that very same chapter. For being that picky I am surprised that you did not notice me spelling Malleus two different ways within the first paragraph.**

 **Speech Syntaxes:**

+Speech+ **Lingua-Technis**

"Speech" **Low Gothic/English**

" **Speech" Amplified Low Gothic**

 _*Speech*_ **Sounds/Background Noises**

 **Chapter's Pre-Readers:**

 **Notes: Apologies for not getting this chapter out sooner. Once I actually got what to write down the concoction of nurgle, corona, hit. And this entire encounter has been a surreal experience where I have to add toilet paper onto the list of items I must protect alongside toasters. Thankfully none of my family members have been harmed but this outbreak, and hopefully you can say the same. Remember, protecting and caring for those who you consider family is the most important thing you can do.**

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Three Way Brawl

 _*plop*_ Dominus Ferrum twitched one final time, for she is done with this game. She sent out an order through the noosphere, +Squad Chi-Omicron, you will escort me to Vale. I have classes to teach.+ The tech-priest marched out of the headquarters bunker and made for the exit, with the squad of skitarii following behind. To her surprise the gate was not lifted for her on her approach, instead it remained locked and shut.

+Dominus Ferrum,+ reported Chi-Omicron-6682, the Vanguard Alpha of the squad, as Ira turned around to face him. The tech-priest had the Adeptus Mechanicus equivalent to a ferocious smile on her face, and her eradication ray started to hum with life. The skitarius paused, for he did not wish to lose his status of being past the crux mechanicus. +Dominus Ferrum, there are no classes scheduled for today.+ Ira ejected a round from her macrostubber to check if it was loaded, coincidently it was pointed at the squad in front of her. The Alpha corrected himself, +Upon reconsideration you can provide private lessons to any willing student.+

The voice of Doctor Oobleck resounded throughout the stadium at the highest volume possible, **"That concludes the matches for today. Please leave the Coliseum IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!"** Ruby flinched at the loud noise, the effects of the concussion coming back for a brief moment.

"Come on, let's go congratulate 'em." Yang led the team out of their seats, the music and the dying cheers of the crowd started to fade out. The subtle roar of an airship crept upon her ears as Weiss stopped walking without warning.

The graceful team leader unceremoniously bumped into her partner. "Uh, Weiss…what are you doing?" Instead of answering the Schnee's eyes widened and a smile grew upon the desolate wasteland of her typically stern face. _'Almost like when she first saw Zwei.'_

Tears started to form in her eyes as she whispered two simile words. "She's here." Like a giddy child the Heiress sprinted out of the stadium, pushing past Blake and Yang in the process. Ruby struggled to keep up, and had to resort to her semblance. _'Note to self: ask Weiss how to run in heels.'_ As they finally reached the special airship, Weiss stopped in her tracks and gazed upon the Atlesian walking down the ramp.

"Weiss! What is the big-time rush!? Who is it? Who is _she_!?" questioned the crimson reaper as she tried to catch her breath.

"Winter." The reply was firm as if she should know who this Winter is just by the name. _'Winter…she had white hair, name starts with a 'W', is Atlesian, and looks_ super _strict. Hmmmm.'_

A buzzer went off in her mindscape as she reached a conclusion. "Your _sister_?"

The heiress cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for her sibling as she ran to meet her. Ruby followed right behind her partner. Weiss allowed all of her giddiness to flow out. "Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" But the idea of who she is talking to made her real her emotions back in. "Your presence honors us."

"Beacon…It's been a long time. The air feels…different," stated Winter as she allowed her eyes to drink in the landscape around her.

Ruby chose this time to practice her skills with small talk. "I mean it is fall so, eh, it's probably colder." Her reward was an unsubtle punch from her partner on the shoulder.

"So, what are you doing here?" questioned the Heiress as she ignored what her partner previously said.

With a pensive stare, the specialist looked to another landing platform. "Classified."

Weiss faltered in the conversation, "Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?"

This earned her an expression of emotion from her sister, a glare to be specific. " _Classified_."

"Of course," responded the Heiress with a respectful nod. But her excitement soon broke her facade of refinement. "You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! _Vale, too._ The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it!? I-"

"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its… _bureaucracy_ ," interjected Winter, the last word coming out with a bid of audible distaste. "That is not why I came." Weiss cringed and shrunk in words at her sister's statements. "Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter."

Weiss attempted to argue against the patronizing, "But, we won."

"Only a novice would refer to _that_ as a victory. I counted at least _three_ strikes missed." The rant on her skills as a fighter ended as the specialist turned to face the Atlesian Knight squad behind her. "Leave us." With a sigh and a slight smile on her face, Winter started the conversation over. "How have you been?"

Weiss started conversing with her sister as if they were equals again, instead of mentor to student. "Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the very top ranking of-" _*SMACK*_

Winter's gloved hand retracted back to her side. "I don't recall asking about your _ranking_ , I'm asking how you've _been_. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?" Her tone softened as she went from question to question.

"Well, there's Ruby," informed Weiss as she gestured to her partner. Winter however turned her stern expression from her sister to her sister's new friend.

"I see. So, this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately…underwhelming." The specialist glared at the team leader with her statement. A barely audible thanks escaped the crimson reaper's lips. Her hardened gaze softened for a brief moment. "Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."

"Oh! Uh, yes, of course!" Ruby was not expecting the sudden change in tone at all, and added upon her unfamiliarity with social situations it added up to an awkward result. "The honor is in my…court!"

Ira watched the Atlesian specialist converse with the Beacon students from afar. Chi-Omicron-6682 approached the tech-priest with his taser goad and radium pistol in their holsters. +Dominus Ferrum, what are your orders?+ Ira paused for a moment as a drunken man started to approach the Atlesian automatons. The two acting as the rear guard were torn to shreds with his bare hands.

An idea sparked to life in the still organic portion of the tech-priest's mind. +Inform the rest of the squad to prepare for quelling a fight. Safeties on, but do not be afraid to point you guns at the bickering feudals.+

"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here, too." slurred the red eyed drunkard as Ira and Squad Chi-Omicron joined in the standoff. "Oh, and these alien robot things are here as well." The Alpha ignited his taser goad.

"You realize you just destroyed Atlas Military property," accused the specialist.

The tech-priest was faster on the draw than Qrow, "Then nothing of value was lost, basing off your doctrine of using them."

"This does not concern you, _tech-priest_ ," retorted Winter as she stepped closer to her real opponent.

Qrow stepped forward as well. "Geez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?"

"The term specialist implies that they are unique," informed Chi-Omicron-6682.

The drunkard now turned on both the adepts and the specialist. "Well, you know what you both really are? A bunch of sellouts. Just like your bosses."

Weiss stepped in between all of them, "There is no reason to fight, we can all just come to our senses and talk it out."

"Weiss Schnee, it's time for you to go." ordered Winter as Qrow started to chuckle.

"Listen to big sister, Weiss. She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh? Just like how the Accept Us Machinists fail to as well," jabbed the drunkard.

Winter proposed an ultimatum with her drawn blade. "If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!"

+Get your squad to keep the civilians out of the crossfire! You're with me.+ ordered Ira to the Alpha as she rushed the clashing huntsmen. Qrow tilted his head to doge the specialist's saber, the following stabs and slashes he evaded with an unparalleled ease. The drunkard bowed to allow his sheathed weapon to block the blow, but it never came. An overly decorated axe had its blade a few inches above his neck, with Winter's blade caught on its pole. On instinct he rolled away from his position as an electrified prong smashed into the ground where he used to stand. The tech-priest ordered, "As the highest-ranking member of the Adeptus Mechanicus present. I order you to end all hostilities immediately before the wellbeing of civilians is put at risk."

"This matter does not concern you. This squabble is between Atlas and this drunkard," stated Winter in defiance of her demand.

Qrow, in an elaborate fashion, twirled while unsheathing his blade into a duelist's stance as he taunted the tech-priest. "You are welcome to try to break this apart. Would make it fairer if you teamed up with her." Ira chuckled to herself, for she now had a chance to satiate her blood lust.

The alpha slowly stepped backward as the three parties stared at each other in a standoff, not one of them making any sudden movements. But to his augmented gaze, he could spot faint tightening and relaxing of muscles. The drunkard rushed the specialist with a vertical slice, knocking her saber out of the way. He quickly pivoted to a horizontal slash towards the tech-priest approaching behind him, but the staff of her axe stopped the blow. Using the rebounded momentum from the block, Qrow parried a stab from Winter which he flowed into another horizontal strike towards Ira.

The Dominus fired her macrostubber at the huntsmen's feet, forcing him to jump away. Winter rushed at the tech-priest with a flurry of stabs and slashes, but her mechadendrites slapped the light blade away. The specialist started to use her superior speed to circle Ira as she continued her onslaught, the Dominus struggled to keep up with her aura enhanced speed. But she was not going to fall just to simple tactics. Ira's eradication ray fire in an arc at her feet, making the Atlesian to slow down. Winter backflipped over a horizontal sweep from the omnissian axe. As she landed her sword redirected Qrow's Harbinger into the ground between her and the tech-priest.

The two feudals started to speed up as they clashed in close quarters around the area formed by the crowd. To the normal eye, it may appear that they are teleporting around, and only being visible for the split seconds that their blades clash. Chi-Omicron-6682 watched the fight with a pinch of dread, _'It would take multiple_ squads _of skitarii just to bring down one of these huntsmen.'_ The display of their speech and martial prowess was almost beautiful, how they perfectly countered each other's move with another perfectly timed strike or an effortless dodge. That was until Winter disengaged from the close quarters with one of her glyphs as Qrow shattered the stone walkway below him.

Ira cursed to herself as she slowly made her way to the two battling feudals, but her cogitators convinced her to stop. The tech-priest chose to analyze the fight from afar as Qrow cut down a lamp post in his attempts to reach the specialist. Winter landed upon the extended blade of Harbinger mockingly before backflipping off onto the remains of the lamp post then backflipping again onto the walls of beacon academy with her sword penetrating the wall to keep her up. They both transitioned into running across the curved walls attacking each other from a distance, but the Atlesian used dust to create a smoke screen before she charged at Qrow with her weapon now shifted into two blades. Their ensuing collision caused damage to the wall they were standing on and a small crater where they landed on the walkway. Completely ignoring the damage that they caused, they resumed their close quarters engagement. The specialist achieved the upper hand with a pushing block from her twin sabers, sending Qrow back to where they started this fight.

The drunkard with a grin plastered unto his face readied his blade to resume his fight with the Atlesian, but the sound of mechanical joints brought him out of his battle trance. The flat end of his blade blocked a downward smash from Ira. Mechadendrites started to help her main arms push Harbinger closer it's owner. "You know," commented the tech-priest as their weapons remained interlocked. Qrow could hear the sounds of mechanical footsteps approaching him. "You should watch your back." The drunkard tilted his blade, sending the omnissian axe to embed itself into the ground. He then spun around to see the skitarii squad leader holding a metallic pistol pointed to the sky, his muscles started to fail him as Ira jammed the alpha's taser goad into his back.

The tech-priest allowed Chi-Omicron-6682 to restrain the drunkard as she turned to face the specialist. Winter had summoned a glyph behind herself as she stood in a practiced stance. Ira attempted to calculate what she was trying to accomplish in that weird stance. _'Her back is facing me, her feet are pointed towards her glyph. But she is looking at me and one of her blades is attempting to cover her back. To spin before using her - what I assume is a - speed glyph would waste energy.'_ The eradication ray started to hum to life as they waited, but her weapon deactivated once she spotted the Atlesian General. Ira proclaimed for all to hear, "There is no reason to fight Atlesian, sheath your weapon."

Before she could counter the Dominus' demand, Ironwood yelled "Specialist Schnee!"

Winter lowered her weapons as she addressed her superior. "General Ironwood, sir."

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" he demanded as he approached gesturing for the specialist to follow him towards the tech-priest.

Winter pointed to the now released drunkard standing next to the skitarius alpha. "He started the altercation sir, and the _tech-priest_ increased the hostility of the situation."

"That's actually not true," injected Qrow. " _She_ attacked first, and the cyborgs intervened and tried to knock us both out." The crowd went silent and the squad of skitarii fell back in line with their squad leader.

The general glared at his subordinate. "Is that right?"

Winter stammered for words, as Ira backed up Qrow's story. "What the huntsman said is true. I can provide video evidence if required."

"And _you_." Ironwood stepped forward past the tech-priest and specialist to face Qrow. "What are you doing _here_?"

The huntsmen easily countered, "I could be asking you the same thing."

"Now, now, everyone." interjected Ozpin as he stepped through the crowd with his second in command. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I can assure you has better seats, and popcorn." The glares from Glynda were enough to get the message across for those who could not hear him. The crowd slowly dispersed as the Atlesians followed the headmaster and professor back to Beacon Tower.

Electronic blue eyes glared under candle light as he listened into a no-longer private conversation. The connection between General Ironwood's scroll and Ozpin's desk alerted him to this meeting, and he expected something of value to be learned. _"I'm here because this is what was necessary."_ A display of a fleet of four small escort ships with fifteen armed bullheads appeared in front of the Magos Dominus.

A gruff and unknown voice argued with the General. _"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here! He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us!"_ Pugnus silently mused to himself on how to pry more information out of Ozpin about this secret war they are fighting. The unknown retorted to a statement that Pugnus did not hear during his thinking. _"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."_

" _The people of Vale needed a native of Remnant to protect them; someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength."_ The tech-priest had to hold back a chuckle at the overconfidence of Ironwood in his army.

The unknown voice started to laugh at the General. _"You-you think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you…they are fear."_

+She's made?+ questioned Pugnus out loud. +So, there is a source to this Grimm infection.+

" _And fear will bring the Grimm. A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's mind: 'If this is the size of our defenses, then what is it we're expecting to fight?'"_

The tech-priest retorted to the conversation, +A guardian is a symbol of weakness and pacifism, while an army is the embodiment of power and might. You need an army to win this secret war of yours Ozpin.+

 **Afterword: As for the naming of the skitarius, I did it in a matter similar to the kill team table for naming skitarius. The first word is the designation for their squad, the second word is the designation of commanding tech-priest, and the last four numbers are to differentiate for the skitarius within the squad. The Vanguard Alpha for example is part of Squad Chi, and is under the command of Ira Ferrum (Omicron), and has the serial number 6682. For future reference, Pugnus is Gamma, and Quin is Pi. What do you guys think about this method?**

 **Notice: There is a poll on my profile for you to vote for how the battle of Vale should turn out in this story. Since I have multiple plans for it that I feel can all work, I want you to be able to have a say in which way this story goes.**


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